Frozen Waters: Book 1: Different
by Kenjiro Minami
Summary: Danny was different than the other guys at camp, and I loved him for that. He was perfect, and I was desperately in love with his perfectness. I didn't care if he loved me back or not. I loved him, and that fact would never change, no matter what happened. Closing the distance between us, I gently placed my parted lips on his heart-stopping, breath-taking smile. (COMPLETE! :D)
1. Chapter 1

The new campers were strange. Why had they arrived in such a large number? Why so late in the summer? And what was with that big one that stood in the doorway like he owned the place? He looked like he was about ready to destroy the Big House had Misha not opened the door. And then when she wouldn't let him in, he looked like he wanted to destroy _her_ till Clay had gone up to the door. What was his problem?

A few more curious people went up to the door, trying to get a clear view of the newcomers over Clay's demeaning height. But his size and bulk blocked everybody's views when he shifted in front of the door, trying to not allow the even larger and taller new guy see through. Everybody gave up and returned to their temporary beds.

Well...

Everybody except me, of course.

When everybody left he entrance to the Big House, Clay had shifted his weight onto one leg. This provided a clear view between his shoulder and Misha's head that was just perfect enough for somebody of my size to peer past them.

I stood on my toes as I tried to see all of the people. It was difficult, with that big one in the way. He took up almost the entire doorway. But then he shifted aside as a honey smooth voice spoke up, though I couldn't make out it's words through all the commotion behind me. But the guy had moved, and I could get a more clear view of all who was with him.

There were a lot. I counted at least twelve. Some were moving, so I wasn't sure if I had forgotten to count those ones or had counted them twice. So I stuck with twelve as I looked at each of them in turn. My eyes landed on this one guy who looked set off from the group. He stood there, as if he wasn't sure what to do, and he kept glancing back at the big one. I gave them a small wave, but really it was directed to the guy who looked set off.

"Hello," I said to them. A few of them looked my way, but didn't say anything.

This one guy spoke up and began to answer all of Clay's questions. The larger guy, who had falen to the background now, snarled and said something. Clay shook his head, and then called out our camp directors name. Then one of the girls spoke, and Clay moved aside.

I tilted my head. Why had Clay suddenly moved aside? He never backed down, unless it was to Misha. I looked at the girl who had spoken to him, and immediatly felt off. These people were strange. Different. They gave off weird vibes.

I didn't like it one bit.

Clay stepped aside, and the tall one was the first to step through. He eyes Clay, sizing him up. Clay was short compared to the new guy. Like, two feet shorter than him. It was weird, since Clay was one of the tallest people I knew.

The new guy snorted, and stepped aside to let everybody else in. I counted them again. welve. My number had been correct.

OUr camp director, Zavid, came up from behind me. "How'd you guys find this place?" The manticore asked the new people.

One of them spoke up. "We were sent here, by our parents." He said to Zavid. "How'd we find the house? Ask Cyril." He pointed to the overly large and muscular guy.

Cyril snorted. "Educated guess." He said gruffily.

Another girl spoke up, but I blocked out her words. I looked to the guy I had noticed earlier. Who was he? Why did he look so uncomfortable around all these people? He had obviously traveled with them.

The guy spoke up suddenly. "We were wondering if we could join the camp." He said. His voice sounded smooth. Not gravelly like the other guys in his group.

Zavid cast a glance at the guy. "Well," he said. "You're here now. So why not?" Our camp director shrugged. "The borders don't let in anybody who isn't a half blood, and you got in. So that obviously means that your a half blood. So why not?"

The guy grinned and I couldn't help but to smile. His grin was cute. It looked good on him. "Awesome!" he said.

I giggled softly at his enthusiasm. It was adorable. Different from the off look he had earlier. I began to grow curious about this guy. Why was he travelling with this large group of people? He didn't look comfortable around them, so he obviously didn't like it.

Cyril asked where the food was, and Lorelei told him with little patience. The talked for awhile, before she finally grew exasperated and left the Big House. Cyril and the group followed her, including the timid looking one. I heard m own stomach growl, and I shrugged. Looking around to make sure I wasn't leaving anything important behind, I tagged along at the rear of the group.

The timid guy was talking to Lorelei now. He was asking her about the flood that the camp was currently suffering, which was why we were all in the Big House. The flood had also frozen over, and while everybody else was slipping and sliding, the guy walked with confidence. I tilted my head, confused as to why that was, and also why Lorelei wasn't noticing it.

I forgot to lift my foot all the way up, and it cuffed the ice. I fell forward and let out a yelp. Thankfully, the new people were being too loud that the guy up front with Lorelei didn't hear. I got a few looks, but otherwise I rubbed it off. I scrambled up to my feet, probably not the smartest idea on the ice. I just ended up pushing myself forward a few feet before I stopped. I thought about my movements for awhile before I pulled my feet underneath me and stood slowly. I still didn't understand how that guy did it. How could he be so smooth on the ice? It didn't make any sense.

None of the new people made any sense, though. But the guy talking to Lorelei, with the smile that brightened his face, and the smooth way he walked on the ice... he seemed the least intimidating of them all.

I caught up to them just in time to hear his name. "Daniel Rivera," he told Lorelei. "But I go by Danny."

Danny. That was the guys name. Got it.

I listened some more as they continued to talk.

"Nice to meet you, Danny," Lorelei said to him. "Are you friends with everyone that arrived today?"

I watched as Danny nodded hesitantly. "More or less," he replied. "Some are nicer than others."

"We're not friends!" I heard one of the girls say. I gave them a look. There were three of them, and they appeared to be close. They all looked the same age, and looked alike in some ways, too. Maybe they were siblings?

"I can tell." Lorelei said as she stepped off the ice. We were almost at the food pavilion.

"Like I said," Danny said with a soft sigh. "Some are nicer than others."

I hung back as they disappeared into the food pavilion. Why weren't these people nice to this guy? He seemed nice, and sweet. He appeared to keep his calm around them. And yet they pushed him down.

I scowled as I stood there for awhile. What was I going to do? I asked myself before I took a step forward. I already knew the answer.

I was going to be his friend.


	2. Chapter 2

I tried to find that Danny guy again, but it was impossible with all the people that were already sitting down and eating. Most of them had his same brown hair, so it was difficult to tell them apart from the door that led into the food pavilion. And I wasn't about to go around looking into every guy with brown hair' eyes to see if they had the same, unique, captivating deep blue ones that Danny had.

Nuuh. Too weird.

So I sat down at the closest table. I contemplated over what I wanted to eat, but I couldn't decide. It was difficult, since the spirits could provide me with whatever I wanted. My stomach growled again and I scowled. Could it seriously not tell that I was trying to decide what to feed it that would also please my taste buds? Gods. Stomachs are so inconsiderate.

"How does the food come?" A voice asked.

I almost jumped out of my seat at how close the voice was. I looked over from my empty table to the one across the way. Danny was sitting at his own table, and he looked incredibly confused on as to what was going on.

"You just think it and it comes." I told him. He turned in his seat to look at me. His eyes lit up in recognition, but then became even more confused.

"You just think it?" He repeated.

A smile twitched up on my lips. It was always entertaining when the new people showed up. They could never figure out how this place worked. "If it helps, you can say it out loud so that you don't feel crazy." I added with a small chuckle. "I still do that sometimes for a reality check."

"Okay..." Danny looked thoughtful before he spoke again. "Fish sandwich!" He exclaimed.

I couldn't stop the look of disgust on my face. Fish? Really? Ew. But I hid it from him as I thought of shrimp. They appeared in front of me, and I picked one up by it's tail. I hesitated before I silently cursed. I hated it when my decisions were influenced by other peoples decisions.

A plate appeared in front of Danny with his requested order, and his face lit up. "Thank you!" He called to me.

I smiled at him. I noticed his empty table, then looked around at my empty table, before I looked at his again. I grabbed my shrimp and got up, moving to sit across from Danny at his table. The smell of his fish hit my nose, and I tried not to gag as I took a bite of my shrimp.

Danny grinned at me. "Hi!"

I smiled softly back at him. "You're... Daniel, right?" I asked as I pulled the tail off of one of my shrimp.

He nodded his head, brown hair bouncing slightly. "Yes, but I go by Danny." He informed me. "What's you're name?"

"Ty," I replied. I thought of a napkin and it appeared. I wiped off my shrimp hands before I held one out to him. "Pleased to meet you, Danny."

Danny grinned again and shook my hand in his own vigorously. "Pleased to meet you as well!" I smiled. His excitement was rather adorable, and add that grin to the small stubble of a beard on his chin and he was the friendliest and most lovable looking person you could imagine.

I dropped my hand and began to eat my shrimp again. "How old are you, Danny?"

"Eighteen," He answered immediately.

I nodded. I had thought so. Not very many guys have the same stubble he had here in camp. It was weird, really. Not seeing the guys with stubble. I guess they thought it looked weird on them. But it looked perfect on Danny.

"Oh?" I asked out of habit when people answered my questions. "You know, being eighteen, you don't have to be at the camp, right?"

Danny tilted his head in a curious way. "I don't?"

I shook my head. "Nope." I said, before I smiled. "But who am I to say what people can and can not do? I'm still here, even after living here for eleven years."

Danny looked surprised by that news. "Eleven years?" He asked in bewilderment. "How old are you?"

"I'm eighteen. I've been here for practically my entire life."

"So we're _both_ going against the rules by being here." Danny said with a smile. "And eleven years is a long time."

"We aren't _going against the rules._" I used my hands to quote his words as I repeated them. "We can do whatever we want. And it really is." I shrugged before I continued. "But I travel outside of camp in my dreams, so I'm good."

"In your dreams?" Danny repeated. I looked at him curiously until I remembered that I hadn't told him of my parentage yet.

I reached a hand up and tapped my head. "Being a child of Hypnos, I can travel without moving."

Danny grinned. "Oh wow. What else can you do?"

"I can hypnotize people to do what I want. It's sort of like charmspeak, but nobody can remember it afterwards."

"You have cool powers."

"Thanks." I picked up another shrimp and de-tailed it. "What about you? Can you do anything?"

"I can swim really well and talk to sea creatures. Kind of boring, I know."

"I wish I could talk to sea creatures..." I said a little dreamily. "They seem like much better conversationalists than humans, you know? Since there's so many of them. I just really wish that I had the ability to talk to animals in general."

Danny nodded. "Sometimes they are," he said, talking about the sea creatures. "They listen really well too when you talk to them, whether about your day, or about others, they're always there."

I smiled at him. I was half tempted to ask him what he thought the fish he was eating would say as it had been killed, and what it might say if it could still talk as he ate it. But I pushed the thought aside. "We have a lot in our ocean province," I said instead. "I sometimes swim there, when it isn't frozen over like the rest of the main camp."

"I heard about it! So it's frozen over, too?"

"I'm afraid so. Now I can't go on my weekly swim..."

"It shouldn't stay frozen for long, right?" Danny asked hopefully. "After all, it _is_ still summer."

I shook my head. "The weather outside of camp doesn't affect us, so I wouldn't know. I just know that I want to swim."

Danny chuckled, and I smiled at it. It was a soft chuckle. Not very many guys had a soft chuckle. "I'd swim with you," he told me. "You seem fun."

I couldn't help but to grin at that. My natural response was to joke, so I did. "I know. I'm fabulous, aren't I?" I asked with a dramatic hair flip. It was difficult considering my long, black, and annoyingly curly hair was pulled back in a ponytail, but I managed.

Danny gave me another one of his soft chuckle's again. "The most fabulous." He agreed before he picked up his fish sandwich and began to eat it. I grinned and picked up one of my de-tailed shrimp and plopped it into my mouth.

We sat in silence for awhile until Danny spoke again. "So you like shrimp?" He asked me, gesturing towards my plate.

I looked down at it and blinked. There were only seven of them left, and I had started with thirty. Wow. I ate them fast. "I _love_ shrimp." I replied as I looked back at him. "And crab, salmon, and lobster."

"Me too!" Danny exclaimed.

"Sweet!" I raised my hand for a highfive, and he high fived me.

"Do you have a lot of friends here?" He asked me.

I shook my head in response. "I only just occasionally talk to people. I sleep too much to really get to know anybody."

"Then I'll be your friend." Danny told me with a determined look.

I smiled. "And I'll be yours." I said back. _Mission accomplished._ I thought.

"Great! You listen to me much better than the others." He cast a glance at that Cyril guy and the three girls. One of them turned around, looking up from her hand. I almost scoffed. _Girls_. They were always so full of themselves.

"Sorry, Dan. What?" she asked him.

Danny looked down as he turned back to me. "I didn't say anything." He murmured.

I made a face at the triplets. I stuck my tongue out at him and crossed my eyes. "You guys lose, then. I win. You should've paid more attention to him."

"Calm down, bitch." One of the other girls said. "Dan here's not really our type."

The way she had said "Our" really urked me, like she was speaking for all three of them. But I smirked at them. "Sucks to be you." I said at the same time as Danny said "It's _Danny_, and that wasn't very nice to say to her."

"She wasn't being very nice," the third girl said with a pout. She twirled her hair around her finger. "Now why don't the two of you go back to your chatting and leave us alone?"

Something passed over Danny's expression and he did as he was told. I was curious about that, but I brushed it aside. Crossing my arms, I glared at them. "Why should I?"

"Because it looks like your boyfriends feeling a bit lonely." The first girl said smoothly. She glanced at Danny.

I was annoyed at how she called him my boyfriend, but I played along. "He can survive for a few minutes, I'm sure of it." I leaned forward. "Bet you guys lied when he said he wasn't your type, huh?"

"Actually, yes. We were lying, because we're _sooooo_ into dumb, scrawny brunette boys. Now _back off_."

If she had been at the camp longer than two hours, she would know that I never back down when somebody tells me to. I glared back at her. "Now, sweetie," I purred sweetly. "As far as I can tell, he isn't dumb. Scrawny just means that he can fit into places better. And brunette? Really? How are you _not _into that?"

"We're brunette, and you can't date someone with the same hair color as you. _Obviously_."

"Oh shut up, Eva." One of the other girls snapped. She looked at me with a malicious flare. "Bye, _honey_." She growled before she got up. The other two got up as well, and the three of them left.

I shrugged and turned back to Danny. I smiled at him. "They obviously like you." I said, joking lightly. I frowned when I saw that he still had that look about him.

"They never liked me." He sighed, dragging a finger along the edge of his plate. "They were right: who'd like a dumb, scrawny guy like me?"

I grew furious as he said that. "Me, _duh."_ I said with a scoff. "Why do you let them get to you? They're just useless dweebs that don't have any friends. The only friends that they will ever have are each other."

"Because they're right." Danny grumbled back.

I snapped my fingers in front of his face. "Yo. Dude. Listen to yourself, man. Did you _not _just hear what I said? They're worthless. They're wrong. Gods, they are _so _wrong. And I'll hypnotize you to get you to realize that if I have to."

Danny glanced up at me. His deep blue eyes were clouded a bit. "What?" He asked.

I snorted. I picked up a shrimp tail and flicked it at him. "Don't listen to them, dude. They're wrong, I'm right, and nothing they say should justify who and what you are."

"But they're with Cyril, and Cyril leads all of us. I _have_ _to_ listen to them."

"No, you don't." I argued. "You are your own person. You command and guide your own reins. Don't let them keep you on a leash. It's what gets us demigods killed the most."

Danny frowned. "You don't understand, do you?"

"_You_ don't understand." I said as I sat back in my seat. "But I'm willing to listen to what you say."

"He'll _kill_ me if I don't listen to him and do as he tells me to do."

I folded my arms. "Well, _they_ aren't him, so you don't need to listen to them unless _he_ says so himself." I was hesitant after that. "But I understand your fear. "I told him as I glanced over to where Cyril was shoving his face with food. "He doesn't look afraid to crush anybody's skull in on itself."

"He isn't. I've seen him do it before..." Danny got this distant look on his face.

I snapped my fingers in front of his face again. "Hey. Danny boy. No spacing out on me."

He blinked and he focused back on me again. "Sorry."

I smiled at him. I looked down at where my shrimp was, but the only problem was that it wasn't there anymore. "Dang it..." I whined.

"You can get them back, can't you?" Danny asked as he noticed that my shrimp was gone, too.

I nodded in response. "Although... I probably shouldn't get them back... I'm kinda full, anyways."

"Could you show me around camp?" Danny asked suddenly.

I immediatly brightened up. "That, my friend, I can definitely do for you! I know everything there is to know about this place." Never before had anybody asked me to show them around camp before.

"Great," Danny said with a grin, getting up out of his seat.

I jumped up in excitement. I thought that an apple would be nice, as a later snack and all, and three appeared before me. I grabbed them and pocketed them. "Let's get this show on the road!"

"You can make apples appear?" Danny asked with an excited gleam in his deep blue eyes.

"They have _everything _here." I told him before I made celery appear. I picked it up and took a bite out of the stalk.

"Could I have an apple?" Danny asked. I nodded and tossed him one from my pocket, and he caught it. His eyes gleaned with the joy of a little kid. He put the red fruit to his mouth and took a bite of it.

I reached out and grabbed his free hand. "Come on!" I exclaimed. "There's so much to see and do here, and you have to see and do it all." I told him as I began to drag him out of the food pavilion.

Danny grinned and allowed me to drag him away. "Okay." He said before he took another bite of his apple.

I cast a smile at him over my shoulder, and my eyes landed on Cyril. It was at that moment that I had come to a big decision.

I was going to show Danny what about him was so great, and I was going to give him a reason to love himself because of it.

But then I thought for a second. Was it really him that I wanted himself to love, or was it me?

That second thought scared me a littlethough I wasnt sure why. But as I pushed open the door gland let Danny out of the food pavilion, I realized with a jolt that, maybe, just maybe, I was beginning to fall for this guy.

Maybe.


	3. Chapter 3

It took awhile to get to where I was going to start Danny's tour. I was busy sliding and slipping across the ice as he walked along with confidence, not even slipping once as we walked. I almost fell several times as we left the food pavilion, and that included on the frosty grass outside of it.

I slid across the ice, almost falling as I guided Danny to where we were going to start the tour. "First stop," I told him as I slipped again and almost fell forward. "The cabins where all the demigods sleep! Please remember to keep all hands and feet above the ice at all times, and do not attempt to break the ice." I chuckled at her own words. I was obviously tired by how I was laughing at myself.

I slid to a stop above a large group of clustered buildings that were all lined up in blocks, much like a city, but the pathways were not large enough for a car to pass through. Maybe just a line of three people maximum, all side by side and shoulder distance apart. "Each cabin is designed to place an environment that would appeal the children of the god that sleep in them. One for each god rests below, but, obviously, not all of them are there." I gestured to the thirty something cabins. "We only build a new one when a child of a god who does not have a cabin built for them appears."

I looked over to see Danny nodding. "Which one's yours?" he asked me.

"Um..." I searched for the cabin with the familiar orange poppy flowers outside of it. I found it, poppies waving in the water like wheat grass in the wind. I pointed to it. "That one. But don't ever try walking into there," I warned him. "It puts everybody but the children of Hypnos to sleep."

Danny chuckled. "Thanks for the warning."

I grinned up at him. "Wouldn't want you to fall asleep in my cabin, do we?" I asked jokingly. "Sleep overs sound fun and all, but, I don't participate."

"Why not?" Danny asked as he tilted his head in that curious way that he did. "They're fun."

I shrugged in response. I realized he probably wanted an answer more than just a shrug, so I explained. "I don't really know anybody here because I spend so much of time sleeping." I told him before I smiled. "Can't really get to know anybody when all you do is sleep, right? But this weather has messed with my sleeping patterns, so I'm wide awake all the time now."

"So then there's more time for us to spend together, right?" Danny asked.

I was curious as to why he asked that question, but I grinned and nodded regardless. "Yup!"

Danny grinned back at me. "Great." I chuckled at his grin. Everything about him suited him perfectly. I just wished that he could see that himself.

I gestured around us in a circle. "Pick a cardinal direction,and we'll go from there."

Danny blinked. "Um..." He said before he looked thoughtful. "East...?"

I grinned. "To the forest it is, then!" I exclaimed before I began to slip in the direction of the forest. Danny followed after me, walking with confidence across the ice once more. It was interesting, the way he did it. It perplexed me. I decided that I would ask him about it later.

Eventually.

I was really forgetful. I might forget that I had told myself to do that later.I hoped that I wouldn't. It was a really curious thing.

So as I slipped, he walked, until we made it to the forest province of camp. I smiled as we entered it's warm environment. I smiled more when I heard the soft sound of water running over stones. I wondered how the naiads were doing. Were they providing a home for their salt water kin as the ocean remained froze over? I hoped so. The naiads weren't very sharing, but they knew that they how to share when it was a matter between life and death.

Danny appeared to have heard the running water as well, ad he looked surprised. "Why isn't the river frozen, too?"

"Because this sector has it's own magicaly enforced environmental adapter." I explained. "The magic is what also keeps whatever monsters live here in, ad whatever monsters that don't live in here out."

"Interesting..." Danny mused.

I smiled. "It really is. Especially once you learn what the magic feeds off of."

"It isn't just... _there?_" Danny asked.

I shook my head. "It feeds off of the energy of the monsters all throughout camp. This includes the naiads, Zavid- our camp director that you guys met earlier who is a real pain in the butt, as well- nymphs, and satyrs." I listed them off on my fingers, making sure I covered all of them. "The only things that it doesn't feed off of are demigods and passing mortals."

"It does...?" Danny asked slowly. I didn't understand why he suddenly looked so uncomfortable, but I just brushed that aside as him getting fearful from me saying monsters.

"Yeah. Isn't it just _incredible_? The main camp border works in the same way, too. But it drains the energy from monsters the longer they stay inside it's boundaries. Like, _quick_. The only reason Zavid isn't dead yet is because of this weird amulet thing that he keeps in his pocket that protects him from that stuff."

"Oh. That's cool."

I cast him a glance. I noticed he still looked uncomfortable. "You look uncomfortable," I pointed out. "Did I say something wrong?" I tried to go over all that I had said to him in my head, but I couldn't even remember what I had just said a minute ago.

He shook his head, but he looked guarded as he did. Like he was withholding information from me guarded. "No," he said. "Nothing's wrong."

I shrugged. If he didn't want to tell me, then he didn't want to tell me. Nothing I could do about it. "Okay then. Wanna meet the river spirits?"

Danny smiled softly. "Sure."

At that word, I reached out and grabbed his hand again. I began to pull him after me once more. "They're just over here!" I told him, following the sound of water.

Danny stumbled as I pulled him along, but he followed after me. "Okay!" He responded with a small laugh.

I turned my head to grin at him. I forgot that I had to pay attention to where I was going and tripped over a root. I let out a shocked and high yelp as I fell, instinctively releasing Danny's hand as I did to put mine out in front of me to catch myself. That plan didn't work out as well as I had hoped, because we were right next to the river at that point, and I ended up tumbling down it's bank, landing in the running water with a splash.

"Oh god." Danny said as he picked his way down. I sat up as he did, still surprised from my tumble. He made it to me, standing about halfway up to his knees in the water. He bent down and picked me up by waist, helping me to my feet. "Are you okay?"

I shook my head to clear it, my long ponytail spraying water everywhere as I did. I stopped and grinned at him. I held my arms out away from my body, and they ran with water coming off from my hair and sleeves. "How do I look?" I asked him. I could feel small twigs poking at my scalp in my hair, and the fine pebbles and sand from the river caught in my clothes were slowly beginning to itch.

Danny chuckled. "Like a wet scarecrow." He answered. "But a nice one."

I grinned and gave him a wink. "Just the look I was going for."

He laughed at that. "Then you achieved your goal."

I laughed, too. It was hard not to laugh along with Danny. He had one of those irresistible to laugh along with laughs. I stopped suddenly as I smirked at him. He gave me a questioning look, until I shook my head. Water from my dripping hair flew everywhere, spraying Danny with it.

He held his arms out and let out a happy sigh. "Non-frozen water." He said happily. "I love it."

I stopped and smiled at him. "I'd be happy to share mine with you," I offered as I held my arms out as well. "Or we can go find a root for you to trip over, too."

"I'll pick... sharing." Danny decided before he brought me into a big hug. I giggled and wrapped my arms around him, hugging him back.

We hugged for awhile before Day released me. He looked down at his shirt and chuckled when he saw it was all wet. I reached over and plucked a twig off of his shoulder that had most likely fallen from my hair as we hugged. I stood back a little, observing him, before I reached up and messed up his hair. I stood back again before I grinned. "Perfect."

"Hey!" Danny exclaimed. He began to try and fix his messed up hair. "It takes awhile to do this, you know!"

I couldn't help but to giggle. "You, Danny, are the first guy that I've met who's actually concerned about what his hair looks like."

He tilted his head curiously again. Gods. His head tilt was so annoying. It just made him look adorable. "Really?"

I nodded and grinned as I responded. "It's quite cute, really, how much you're concerned about your hair."

Danny slowly grinned back. "Thank you!" He exclaimed. "I think..." He added hesitantly.

I giggled at him again. "Still up for those river spirits?" I asked. "They're just going to mes up your hair even more than I have."

Danny glanced up,trying to see his hair, before he shrugged. "It's already messed up, thank you very much, Ty." He said with a teasing air to his tone. "So sure!"

I grinned at him. "You're welcome!" I laughed. "They're on the other side of the river, though, so we gotta get over there." I told him before I began to walk against the pull of the current. The water rushed past me as I stood thigh deep in it. It was difficult to walk in it because of that. Gods. I hated being short. "Come on!"

Danny began to pick his way across. The water only wet up to his calves, and I scowled. He was either really tall, or I was just really short compared to him. Or a combination of both.

I stumbled a bit as my sandals got caught underneath a rock. I lifted up my foot, and it came back without my sandal. I frowned. "Dang it. I'm just losing everything today."

"I can get it for you." Danny offered, already reaching his hand under the water for it. He was searching for awhile before he stood back up straight, my black sandal in his hand. He held it out for me,water rolling off of his arm as though he was covered in oil.

Or... like the water was the oil and his skin was the water. Whatever way you wanna look at it, I guess.

I smiled gratefully, reaching for my sandal in his hand before I stopped. It finally processed what was going fact that his arm wasn't wet was pretty cool. "Sweet!" I said with a grin. "A child of Poseidon!"

Danny frowned at me, confused. "What?"

"How the water just rolls off of you like... like... like that!" I exclaimed. "Everybody knows that that's a common Poseidon child trait!"

Danny nodded. "Oh. Yeah. That." He nodded again. "Yeah. Poseidon's my father."

"That's wicked." I told him in awe.

Danny smiled sheepishly. "Thanks. It's nothing really special, though."

I scoffed. "But it's better than what I can do."

"What can you do?"

I held my hands out as though I were performing some weird voodoo. "Hypnotize people, walk dreams, and sleep ten times more than the average person." I put my arms down and grinned. "My powers are just _amazing_, right?" I asked, my voice heavy with sarcasm.

"Walking through people's dreams and hypnotizing people?" Danny asked. "That's _awesome!_"

I just shrugged as I reached down and swirled my hand through the water. I realized that he still had my sandal in his hand, and I reached over and grabbed it from him. He put his hand down next to his side as he looked around.

"Where are the river spirits?"

I pointed down the river. "Just that way. They collect in a small whirl of water at the edge of the bank."

Danny grinned. "Nice." He said before he began to walk that way. He walked through the water with just as much confidence as he did on the ice. I guess it made sense, since he was a child of Poseidon. But one of the gods' other sons, Jackson, was a total klutz walking through the water. And then there was Jesse. He could navigate the ocean like he could the back of his hand.

I chuckled at the thought. How could all three of them be related, and yet so, completely, utterly different? They didn't even look remotely the same.

I shook the thoughts away as Danny grew further away from me. Well... he wasn't _that _far away, but the difficulty that I was already having just standing there, it would take me awhile to catch up to him. I began to struggle forward, still holding the sandal that Danny had retrieved for me in my hand. I frowned. He was still making better progress than I was.

I changed my course and struggled out of the river instead of through it. It took me awhile, but I managed. I stood there for awhile, catching my breath and feeling weird after the walk through the river. I hated that feeling. That weird, jello feeling people always get after they're in the water for a long time.

It took me awhile before I got proper feeling back in my legs. I squeezed some water out of the base of my shirt before I slipped my sandal on and began to make my way after Danny.

...

**Sorry for the awkward ending.;-; It was getting too long.**


	4. Appearences

**Okay. Sorry. This is just really bugging me because I haven't been very descriptive about their appearances. XD So here is what they both look like. :P**

**Ty:**

Five foot four female. She has curly, black hair , and green/blue/hazel eyes with gold and really light silver flecks in them. The ring around her eyes is a light gray. She's almost always wearing something black. She is ALWAYS wearing her hand crafted wolf necklace, and a spinal bangal bracelet.

**Danny:**

Short brown hair that spikes up in the front and some chin stubble. Deep, sea blue eyes and a kind smile. He stands at 6'3".

**Yeah... That seems to be it. XD If there are more things that are needed, I'll update. :D**


	5. Chapter 4

When I had finally caught up to Danny, he was still walking in the river. I gave him a weird look, but he didn't notice. I stumbled over a rock as I walked alongside the river, and I let out a silent curse. Gods. I could be quite the fumbler from time to time. And klutz. I was a big klutz.

Danny cast me a glance as I regained my balance from my stumble, and I gave him a small smile. "You know, you probably shouldn't walk in the river." I warned him.

He gave me a curious look. "Why's that?"

"Because the naiads'll drag you under if you walk in their river." I responded. "They'll also take whatever items you have on you, too."

"They will?" Danny asked with a frown. "Why?"

"They don't like it when people walk in their river without permission."

"So make sure not to trip again." Danny said with a small chuckle.

I rolled my eyes at his teasing tone. "Yeah, don't trip." I agreed. "But you should probably get out of the river."

Danny shrugged his slightly muscled shoulders. "It doesn't bother me." He said. "Besides, I don't have anything worth stealing on me at the moment."

I smiled. "Okay then. But don't complain to me when you end up losing a shoe or your shirt."

"Then I guess I'd have to walk shoeless or shirtless; I like the water." Danny countered with a smile.

"Same," I said with a shrug. I heard some laughter coming from up ahead, and I looked up to see several girls with blue-tinged skin sitting on a rock, laughing and splashing each other with the water from the river. Although they didn't move when they splashed each other. They just sort of flicked their wrists, and the water would spray up and hit one of them in the face. "Just a bit further." I told Danny.

"I've never seen river spirits before..."

"They're a blast," I told him. "They're one of the few things aware of my presence when I visit them in the dream world."

"So you can walk in their dreams, too?" Danny asked, trying to understand the limits to my abilities. "Not just demigods?"

I nodded. "I can also visit places in real time, too."

"So... You could visit somewhere like Washington D.C. while you're asleep?"

"Yup!" I exclaimed with a grin. "It's really cool. I should show you sometime."

Danny grinned back. "I'd love that." He said.

I was about to respond, but I was splashed by water before I could. I closed my eyes and mouth so that water wouldn't get into them, but I was a bit too late. I spit out the river water that had gotten into my mouth before I spoke. "We're here," I said to Danny, pointing out the obvious.

Danny laughed at my expression. Shaking his head in amusement, he turned to look at the naiads. He lifted a hand and waved at them, a small smile on his face. The naiads whispered to each other, and a few of them shoved one into the river, laughing, before they, too, were pulled in. The naiads on the rocks rolled their eyes at their companions before they smiled and waved back at Danny.

I raised an eyebrow at their behavior. "I think they like you." I said blatantly.

"Do they?" Danny asked with curiosity as he continued to look at the naiads.

I shrugged. "They haven't stolen your stuff yet." I tried for a wave at the naiads, but I was only greeted by another splash.

"It doesn't look like they like you very much..." Danny observed with a small frown.

"I get used to it." I told him, spitting more river water out of my mouth.

"Hmm..." Danny began to make various noises towards the naiads. The noises sounded similar to the ones that they used when they spoke to one another. I blinked at him.

"You can speak their language?" I asked, intrigued albeit flabbergasted.

Danny nodded. "Yeah." He said before he continued to speak to them. He gestured his hands around, using them to add emphasis to whatever words he was speaking.

I watched him with interest and curiosity. Sitting down, I listened as he spoke to the naiads, and as the naiads spoke back to him. One of the naiads was frowning as she spoke, and another wasn't paying any attention at all to her sisters as she splashed one that was still floating in the river.

"They said that they didn't like you falling in their river," Danny translated for me. "I guess you scared a pretty fish they were watching away."

I immediately jumped up to my feet. "It wasn't my fault!" I retorted. "It was the stupid tree's!"

"I tried explaining that to them, and they weren't buying it." Danny said with a sigh. A naiad began to chirp to the other naiads, and Danny began to chime in as well. "I guess one of them saw that and convinced the others. They're not mad anymore."

I crossed my arms in a display of attitude. "They better not be." I grumbled.

Danny appeared about ready to respond until one of the naiads spoke up. He immediately turned red and shook his head. They all giggled and turned away, whispering to each other some more.

I raised an eyebrow at Danny's color. "Whatd they say?" I asked him.

He looked unbelievably embarrassed as he responded to my question. "They... uh... they asked if we were... um... t-together." He stuttered as the naiads giggled and continued whispering to each other.

I giggled as I flipped my still wet ponytail over my shoulder. I sent a wink in the direction of the naiads before I spoke. "Are we?" I asked teasingly.

Danny seemed to turn even more red at that. "I-I told them that we weren't _together _together, just walking around." He looked hesitant after that. "W-was that the right thing to say?"

I smiled at him. "I believe so, though they might try and flirt with you now that they know you're available."

Danny's a glance at them with his deep blue eyes. "That's what they're whispering about now..." he mumbled. One of the naiads spoke up again, and my companion shook his head frantically. The naiads looked enraged, as did the others.

I began to pick my way down to Danny immediately. Grabbing g onto his shirt sleeve, I pulled him out of the river and began to run away from the naiads, dragging him behind me and laughing. "What'd you do?" I asked as we ran.

"I-I told them no when one of them asked if I'd go out with them." Danny panted as he stumbled behind me.

I laughed at that. I judged us to be a safe distance from the naiads and slowed to a stop. "Never say no to a naiad." I told him.

"But they seemed so nice before..." Danny argued as he cast a glance over his shoulder.

I giggled and leaned against a tree. "Looks can be deceiving."

"I know..." Danny mumbled as he looked down at his feet. He had that look again, like he was with-holding information. I realized that I was still holding his hand and released it.

"What's that look for?" I asked curiously.

He looked thoughtful for a moment before he spoke again. "Can I tell you something?" He asked.

I nodded. "Of course." I told him. "I'm all ears."

"And you promise not to tell anyone?" Danny asked. "Not even Cyril?"

I grew more curious. What was it that Danny wanted to tell me that was so big he didn't want his travelling companion to know? But I nodded. "I'm not going anywhere near that hunk of... threatening and disgusting... thing." I said. I couldn't really find the right words to describe my attitude towards Cyril, so I just stuck with those words.

Danny took a deep breath. He looked like he was fighting with himself, like he was wondering whether or not he could really trust me with the information he wanted to tell me. He finally appeared to come to a decision, and he spoke. "I'm not quite a... um... _demigod_, per say."

I raised a brow at that. "Then how'd you get in?" I asked slowly.

"Because... because I'm half monster." Danny murmured.

I frowned, trying to understand. "So... what you're saying is that you're some sort of monster... human... hybrid...?"

Danny nodded before his ears turned into those of a horse. I couldn't resist reaching a hand up to feel them. They felt smooth beneath my fingers. Danny began to laugh as I felt his ears, and I grinned. "Dude... that's awesome. Way better than you being g the child of Poseidon. What monster?"

Danny's ears flicked uncontrollably beneath my touch. "H-h-hip-hip-cam-hippocampus." He managed to get out between laughs.

I giggled and removed my hand from his ears. "Thats wicked, man. I wish I were the child of a monster."

Danny let his laughter die down before he spoke again. "Its not all that great, honestly." He said, horse ears still flicking. "You have to constantly be watching what you do and how you act around people, or else they'd suspect. And you have to be under Cyrils command, too."

I frowned at the last part. "I'm assuming he's one, too."

Danny nodded. "Yeah. He is."

"And he wouldn't like it if you told me _what_ he is." I guessed.

"He won't even like it if I knew that I told you," Danny confirmed. "So please don't say anything. Please?"

I nodded and held up my left hand, which was the hand I wrote more often with. I etched an x over my heart with my right hand. "You have the word of a Winters." I told him.

Danny brought me into a hug. "Thank you."

I was shocked by his hug, but after awhile, I hugged him back. "I see why you're so afraid of him, now."

"He will literally kill me, you know." Danny murmured into my ear. "So please don't tell him that you know we're different."

His breath tickled my ear, but I forced myself not to move. Instead, I hugged him tighter as a sudden fear of losing him came over me. I don't know where it came from. I don't even know why I was afraid of losing Danny. I had just met him! But the thought of losing him was one I could not bear to think. "I'll protect you." I murmured back with all sincerity. I realized that I'd risk my life for him if I had to. It was a stupid thought, but it sparked some curiosity in me. Why was I so quick to help this guy?

Danny's hug tightened on me. "Thank you." He told me.

I smiled and let him hug me as tight as he pleased. Although, I have to admit, it _was _becoming a bit difficult to breath with how tight he was hugging me.

Danny eventually pulled away from the death hug he had embraced me in. I let in a small gasp for air, trying to not make it an obvious fact that he had almost literally squeezed the life out of me, but he had noticed. "Sorry!" He exclaimed, frantically trying to find a way to help me catch my breath.

I smiled at him. "Its okay." I assured him with a small cough. "Asthma is a pain when it comes to friendly gestures."

His deep blue eyes widened. "Shoot. I didn't know that. I'm sorry!"

I managed to squeeze a small laugh out of my lungs. "What did you expect me to do? Walk up to you and immediately tell you that I have asthma? 'oh. Hey. My name's Ty. Oh. I have asthma, by the way.'" I scoffed. "Best introduction in the world."

"I suppose..." Danny said with a small chuckle. He began. To look around. "Is there anywhere else you'd like to show me?"

"Is there anywhere else you'd like to go?" I answered with my own question. "We have snow, cave, mountain, fire, desert, sky, and ocean left."

Danny looked a bit shocked by how much territory we had left to explore. "Um... Maybe the mountain one?" He suggested.

I nodded. "We're going to need blankets, though. So we gotta go back to the Big House to get them."

"Was that that place we first went to when we got here?"

"Yup! Let's go."

"Okay." Danny said with a small chuckle at my enthusiasm. "Lead the way." He said.

I grinned at him and began to happily walk back in the direction of the Big House. Danny followed after me, appearing to be deep in thought, so I didn't talk. I led him back to the Big House, a calm silence wrapped around us, and I, too, began to think.

So Danny was part monster? I thought over that as I walked. And so we're the others with him... for some reason, that thought sparked an emotion in me that I couldn't quite explain. It was like butterflies in the pit of my stomach, trying to crawl out.

_Love._

My brain put a name to that emotion, and I blinked. Love? I tried to figure out why I would fall in love with Danny so quickly, so soon after meeting him. He was different than the other guys at camp. Fun. Caring. Tender. Sweet. And he was handsome, too. The stubble on his chin was attractive, and his deep blue eyes appeared to be even more hypnotizing than I could ever make my voice. His smile and his laugh were amazing, and the thoughtful look he had...

I blinked as I realized that my feelings towards Danny were more than just a friend's. I frowned a little. But why? I cast a glance at Danny as we walked, and I knew the answer.

Because he was _different._

_..._

**Yo. So, quick thing about updates. Updating weekly on Wednesday, because I came to a sudden block in the hand written version. It's a ways aaway, but I don't want to risk catching up if I update everyday. Okay? So... expect new chapters every Wednesday.**

**Also, I should probably say that Danny isn't mine. XD he's my friend, Skippys, whose username is ScipioPB. Check her out. She's awesome.**

**Ty, however, is mine. She's me, in demigod form. XD**

**Yeah. That's all for my random AN. See y'all next week! Bui!**


	6. Chapter 5

**Gah... How much longer till I'm not following the Rp...? ****About three more chapters****, I say to myself. Well, self. Time for you to hush up and start writing. You have an impatient Skippy waiting for this chapter.**

**...**

After we got some blankets from the Big House, I began to lead Danny up the treacherous, life-taking, monster ridden hike towards the mountain province.

Just kidding.

The only monsters inside camp boundaries were Zavid and Jesse's appetite.

After awhile, we made it there. I hummed as we walked through the mountain region of camp. Danny was looking around, asking me questions about some things that were there, and I answered him to the best of my ability. Which was rather well, mind you, since I had been there for eleven years. I knew almost everything there was to know about the camp and it's people. Except for the new ones, of course... I was too tired to try and mess with them.

Anyways, so Danny asked questions, and I answered them. After awhile, I stopped, and he almost ran right into me.

"What is it?" The half-monster asked as he looked around, wondering why I had stopped. I looked around at our surroundings, trying to figure out where we were. After awhile, I remembered, and I sent him a smile.

"Come on," I told him, starting to climb the mountain to our left. "There's something you need to see."

Danny hesitated as some pebbles slid out from underneath me. But he began to follow after I got ten feet above him, curiosity winning over his caution. "What is it?"

I flashed him a quick smile before I made my way up the mountain further. "You'll see." I paused, looking around to make sure it was the right mountain. I nodded when I had made sure that it was, and continued to make my way up.

Danny followed me, and the few glances I sent down to him, he looked rather curious. Most people had that same look whenever they first played Capture-the-Flag in this region, and I knew what he was thinking. So I answered his silent question.

"The mist that shrouds the camp prevents every mortal- and _immortal_, from seeing everything that lies within." I explained. "Including our two thousand feet tall mountains." I added as I made it to the top. I turned around and offered Danny a hand up, and he accepted.

"Wow. That's pretty cool." He said as he, too, came to a stand on top of the mountain.

I smiled at him and moved away from the edge and more towards the center of the mountain. Sitting down, I stared out across the way. "I love coming up here in the dream world." I told him as I gazed at the smaller mountains around us. Eventually, if you looked far enough, they turned into rolling hills and, after that, the Pacific Ocean lapped silently at the coast of Oregon. "The sun rises are beautiful."

"I'll bet." Danny said as he came to sit beside me, smile on his face. "How'd you find this up here?" He asked me as he gazed out across the way.

I let out a small laugh. "Funny story, really." I said. "It was during one of my first years at camp, when all I ever did was bounce off the walls with energy I don't have today. We were playing capture the flag here, and I was sent out to search for the other teams flag. A giant bird found me and picked me up, and it carried me here. Panicking, I hypnotized it, my first time ever. Though it didn't w quite work out, so I ended up still needing to kill it." I shook her head. "Anyways. So the bird brought me here, and after I killed it, I began to call for help. Nobody found me til late into the night, but I've been in love with this place since."

"Scary story for such a beautiful place."

I nodded in agreement. "But I still love it here. I just wish I could get there, to the ocean, especially now that the camps is frozen."

"I'm sure Zavid will be able to think of something to get rid of the ice." Danny assured me.

"I hope so..." I murmured. I shivered as the wind suddenly picked up, piercing the blanket that was wrapped around me. I tried to hide it from Danny, but he noticed.

"Are you cold?" He asked me.

I shook my head. "N-no." I lied, though I knew it was useless. "I'm good."

Danny sighed. Standing up, he took the blanket that was draped over his shoulders and wrapped it around me. The gesture surprised me, though I'm not sure why. Danny was a gentleman. That much was obvious as soon as you looked at him. But I still smiled softly at him.

"Th-thanks." I told him through chattering teeth. Another breeze came, and I pulled both blankets closer. "But won't you get cold?"

He shrugged and sat back down next to me. "I'd rather be cold than watch you be cold."

I smiled at him. He was so kind. But I couldn't let him be cold, so I took the edge of his blanket and leaned over, wrapping it around his shoulder that was out of my view. "I'd rather the both of us be warm."

Danny smiled at me. "Thank you."

I smiled back before I turned to look at the ocean far beyond my reach. Why couldn't camp just be over there? My life would be so much better if I could swim at that moment. And the waves lapping at the coast of Oregon... That was just torture.

"It's really nice and quiet up here." Danny said softly, not wanting to break the peaceful quiet that had fallen between us and our surroundings.

"It really is," I agreed. I looked up at the constellations that were quickly appearing in the night sky and smiled. "With no light pollution, either."

"I noticed that." Danny said as he, too, looked up towards the sky. "It's really nice."

I smiled softly at his words. My eyes began to wander, tracing the shapes and outlines of every constellation I saw, silently connecting them to the myths I loved to read. They weren't really myths, since I was a demigod and all, but you get the point.

"Could you tell me about the constellations?" Danny asked when he noticed that I was still starring up at the stars. "I don't know much about them."

"Well, that one, right there," I said, tracing a path in the stars. "Is called the Big Dipper. It's a constellation of a bear, who was a mother to the one next to it right over... there." I traced a smaller one in the sky to the left of the larger one. "It's said that they were the first mortal wife and son of Zeus. He turned them into bears to put into the sky after they were killed by a... um..." I thought for awhile. "I think they were shot down by a hunter who had mistaken them to being bears because of the fur they were wearing that day, if I remember correctly."

Danny nodded, though he did look a bit confused by the story. "That's a nice story. What else?"

"Well that one over there," I traced some more stars. "Is called Scorpio. The one over there," I drew my hand along the sky and traced the figure of a man. "Is Orion. Orion was a giant, who was bred to rival the twin archers. But he didn't like his role, and joined Artemis in her hunt. He was the second guy to ever join her hunt, and also the last. He had fallen in love with Artemis, and she loved him back. Apollo didn't like how much he loved his sworn virgin sister. He sent upon the giant Orion a craziness for hunting that could not be satisfied. He began killing more than just small critters like rabbits and mice. He took out several large herds of deer, and even killed Ares' sacred boar. This upset in the balance disrupted Gaea in her sleep, and she stirred.

"She saw what her son Orion was doing," I continued. "And she sent upon him the giant scorpion Scorpio. The creature came straight from the ground, right behind Orion. The giant didn't stand a chance as the scorpion stabbed him with its tail, injecting a dose of poison that would put even the God's into a coma. The giant died immediately. Artemis heard this news from her brother, and ran to his fallen body. Crying, she put him into the sky, before she began to hunt for the scorpion that had taken his life.

"For three days she hunted the scorpion, and on the third she found it. She killed it, and when she did, Gaea spoke to her through its corpse. She told the hundreds what Orion had been doing, and justified her reasons for killing the giant. Artemis was horrified by the news, but she knew that the earth goddess was telling the truth. She had watched as her friend and love slowly went insane from the heat of the hunt, unaware that it was really her brother who was to blame.

"Artemis then sent the scorpion into the sky," I traced the scorpion again. "Naming him Scorpio. She turned Orion's form towards the beast so that he'd always be hunting it. She used the two as a reminder to all hunters the terrible fate that could come to them if ever they hunted for fun and not to feed, which would end up upsetting the balance of nature once again. But really, the huntress used the two as a spiteful reminder to never allow men to hunt in her group again, because they were reckless and would always do anything they could to try and win her love and devotion."

I finished the story with a soft sigh before I turned a bit red. "Sorry." I said quietly. "It's one of my favorites."

Danny grinned at me. "No, it was a great story! I've never heard of Orion or Scorpio before."

"You should really read into them." I told him with a sheepish smile. "All of the stories of the constellations are amazing."

I smiled back softly. "We'd end up sitting here all night as I explained each story." I said with a small laugh. "I'd give you their stories from every myth written in history, including my own thoughts on them."

"I'm fine with that, as long as you are." Danny said with a small smile. Hie smile faltered a little. "Unless... unless you're tired, of course."

I shrugged, about to tell him that I wasn't tired, but a yawn interrupted me. "I guess... I guess I am a _little_ tired." I admitted reluctantly.

His smile returned. "Then I'll let you sleep."

"You're not going to sleep?"

He shook his head. "No. I want to watch the stars a bit more."

"Hmm." I hummed softly before I yawned again. I got comfortable in my position, legs drawn up to my chest and arms holding them close as I rested my head on my knees. I looked out across the mountains, my eyelids getting heavier by the second.

Danny chuckled softly. "Honestly," He murmured. "It's alright if you fall asleep."

I sent him a glance and smiled at him softly. "I know. But I like talking to you."

He returned my smile with his own. "Me too."

I smiled fully and drew my blanket closer to my body, making sure that there were no openings to let the cold wind in. "Plus," I said. "My feet are cold. I can't fall asleep when my feet are cold. It's one of those many weird things about me."

Danny laughed at that. "If I had another blanket, I'd give it to you."

"It's okay. That would just speed up the process of my feet warming up, and that would mean I'd have less time to talk to you."

He laughed again. "I'm flattered."

I smiled at his laugh. I liked it. I _loved _it. It was smooth, like water running over stones, and it wasn't choppy like waves. It was perfect. "I still don't understand what those triplets don't see in you." I found myself saying.

Danny looked a little sad at that, but also curious. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I don' understand why they don't like you." I clarified. "You're funny, you're _fun_, you're nice, sweet, giving, caring, kind, and _completly_ adorable. What's there _not_ to like about you?"

Danny's face darkened a little, in what I assumed to have been his cheeks reddening, but I couldn't really tell in the darkness of the night. "Really?" He asked. "No one has ever told me that before..."

I scoffed. "Then those losers are blind if they can't see something as obvious as that."

After awhile, a smile spread itself on Danny's face, and he wrapped his arms around me in a hug. "Thank you."

I was shocked by the hug, and it took me awhile to hug him back. I smiled as I did. "You're welcome." I responded. "Though I wasn't saying it to be nice. It was the complete truth of what I've been thinking for the past few hours I've known you." It felt weird, saying that, and I didn't even realize I had said it till it was out there. I turned a little red, but the blush quickly left.

"Really?" Danny asked as he pulled out of the hug, sounding a bit unbelieving. I nodded.

"Yeah. I think that any girl could find herself falling for you within seconds." I told him with a smile. "Especially with those little aquatic horse ears of yours." I added with a giggle.

Danny cast a sheepish glance at his horse ears that were still in the place of his human ones. "Thanks..." Danny said with a tone as sheepish as his look. "You're really nice."

"It's not difficult." I told him with a small laugh at his sheepish look. "I find it more fun to point out the best qualities in people and things rather than bringing out the negative all the time, or even occasionally." I reached up and touched his ears again, feeling their smoothness beneath my fingertips. "Why spend all my time being negative when I can spend it being positive, y'know?"

This time, when I touched his ears, Danny didn't laugh uncontrollably. Instead, he smiled softly at me. "Yeah."

I smiled and removed my hand from his ears. "So what about you? Would you rather be positive, or negative? I already knew what his answer would be. He had always been positive, the few hours we've known each other. But I had asked him because I was hoping that he'd explain.

"Positive, of course." Danny responded immediately. "My life is already so full of negative things and people, why not change it?" He added with an honest shrug.

I smiled softly and reached up to fix his hair a little. "One of the things that makes you so perfect." I told him softly as he allowed me to fix his hair. "Pushing aside the negative that threatens to consume you and becoming your own person in the end."

Danny smiled at my words. "Ty, you're so nice to me. I can't thank you enough for being such a good friend."

Friend. I smiled at the word. It wasn't used often to describe me. "There's no need for thanks, Danny. It's what friends are supposed to be, nice to each other and all."

The half-hipocampus nodded in understanding. "I've never had a good friend before."

I grinned. "Then I can be your first good friend, and you'll be mine." I told him. "Sound like a deal?"

Danny smiled and held out his hand for a shake. "Deal."

I reached out and accepted his hand, shaking it formally with a grin on my face. "Well, my dear friend. It looks like we have our very first deal."

He grinned back at me. "Awesome."

I released my hold on his hand and smiled before I yawned. "What should we do now?"

Danny chuckled as he returned his hand to his lap. "Like I said before, you can sleep."

I wiggled my toes from inside my shoes. They were warm, but I didn't want to tell him that. "My feet are still cold, though." I lied.

"I would warm them up for you if I could."

That put a funny picture of Danny sitting on my feet to warm them up in my head, and I laughed. "Thanks, but no. I'm good."

Danny smiled as I laughed. "If you say so." He leaned back till he was lying down, staring up at the night sky.

I smiled at him and stayed sitting up. Pulling my hair tie out, I let my still wet and intensely curly hair fall around down my back. I plucked some twigs and leaves from my hair that were still left over from my earlier tumble into the river.

"You still have sticks and everything in your hair?" Danny inquired, shocked.

I couldn't help but to snort in response. "Everything gets stuck in my hair." I told him. "You have no idea how many pencils I've lost to this stuff, only to have it stab my neck when I went to bed hours later. And even _then _I couldn't find them." I chuckled, and, as if to prove a point, ran a hand through my curls. My hand got caught on something, and I fumbled a bit before pulling out an inch long pencil. ""See? And the last time I had put a pencil in my hair was last week."

His deep blue eyes, that looked black in the dark, widened in shock. "Oh wow."

I giggled at his expression. "Yeah. It's a mess." I ran a hand through it again to make sure I had everything out of it. "I need to get it shortened again. I keep getting it caught in things." I pulled on one of my curls and stretched it out to it's full two foot length to show Danny just how long it really was. The curls made it appear only half of the length that it really was because they were so tightly wound. "It's too long."

"I think it's pretty long." Danny told my with a smile.

It took me awhile to register that as a compliment, and when I did, my cheeks heated up. I was glad that the only light was from the stars, making it too dark for Danny to see my blush. "You think so?" I asked. "I'm not a big fan of it, especially since if I don't take care of it properly with all the right products and such, it frizzes up all over the place like I'm a freaking lion."

"You're a pretty lion then."

My red color deepened, and I was amazed that I wasn't red enough for Danny to see, even with the lack of light. "Th-thank you." I stuttered. "I... I think I still might get it trimmed, though. At least just a little to get rid of any split ends that might be there."

He nodded in understanding. "Should I cut my chin hair, too?"

I gave him a skeptical look and shook my head. "Na. I think it makes you look all the better."

"Your opinion is biased," He chuckled. "Since you've never seen me without it before."

I tried to picture him without his stubble, thinking over my answer, but I didn't like the results of that thought, so I shook my head again. "I think I'd still like you better, appearance wise, with it."

Danny smiled. "Thanks. Since I keep the stubble, you keep the long hair. Deal?"

"That's an unfair deal."

"How so?"

"That's basically asking me to lose more things in my hair and get it caught in everything more often just so you can remain all handsome and adorable." I told him with a huff of air, blowing some of my curls away from my face.

"I'm what?"

I rolled my eyes. "You heard me. You're handsome and adorable."

"I-I am?" Danny stuttered.

"Um, _yeah_." I said with a small giggle. "Especially right now." I said as I gathered my hair in a bundle and began to put it up.

Danny looked to be at a lose of words after that. He looked confused, like he was trying and failing at processing my words. I finished putting my hair up and smiled at him.

"Did you forget how to speak?"

"I- no, I-," He stuttered in response.

I giggled and pretended to write notes down with the inch tall pencil in that was still in my hand. "Compliment... Danny... to make him look... even more cute and adorable... as he tries... to find... his voice..." I said as I pretended to write. I glanced over at Danny and smirked. "Repeat... everyday. If he stops stuttering... find something else to say... to try and get him to stutter... again."

"I-I don't m-m-mean to-o stut-t-t-ter!" He ducked his head in embarrassment.

I giggled again and continued to write fake notes. "Make sure... to tell him... that he is adorable... when he stutters." I thought for a second before continuing. "Also, make sure to tell him... he's even _more_ adorable... with those horse ears... and _especially_ so when he's... embarrassed." I sounded out the final word as I pretended to write it down.

Danny looked to embarrassed to respond. He had sat up sometime during my fake-note writing, and was currently trying to hide his face behind his legs that he had pulled up to his chest.

I chuckled and watched Danny as he tried to hide. "You can ask me to stop, and I'd gladly oblige, you know." I told him. "But if you don't, then Ill just keep talking."

"Please do stop." Danny managed to get out, deep blue eyes peering at me from behind his legs.

I smiled and nodded. I closed my mouth and pretended to zip it shut. Danny let out a relieved sigh. "Thank you."

I smiled softly at him, wondering if I had gone too far with my teasing. I looked out across the mountains, filled with a sudden energy after ignoring my need to sleep for so long.

"I think I'm going to sleep now." Danny said quietly.

I felt a sudden sadness, a sudden emptiness at his words. But I nodded. "Okay."

Danny laid back down on the ground. "Good night, Ty." He yawned as he brought his legs close to help keep his uncovered body warm.

"Night, Danny." I responded. I looked over at him and noticed how cold he was. I pulled a blanket off of me, the one he had sacrificed to help keep me warm. I gently covered him it before I brought my own closer to myself. I turned my gaze back to the Pacific Ocean far off in the distance, but my eyes couldn't help the small smile Danny sent me as he pulled the blanket closer to him before quickly falling asleep.

I watched him sleep for awhile. I couldn't get to sleep myself, so I just sat there, watching him for a few minutes before I turned my attention back to the coast of Oregon. I thought as I did. I thought about how much I had been thinking that day. It wasn't often that I thought as much I had the day I met Danny. I was a "do now, think later" kind of person. It was strange, really, how much he made me think. I liked it, sort of, but I thought that thinking appeared to be more of a him thing than a me thing. Gods. I was thinking a lot. And I thought, not for the first time that day, that I loved Danny.

I glanced over at Danny's sleeping form and smiled softly.

Yeah.

I loved him.

There was no denying it anymore.

I, Ty Winters, a simple human who had been born to the god Hypnos and a mortal woman, was in love with Danny Rivera, the half monster who had just come to the camp with a group of others like him, born to a mortal and a hipocampus, horse of the sea. And I loved that I loved him. Yeah, it was a rash and sudden love, but it was perfect. There wasn't anybody in the world like Danny. He was one of a kind, and I loved him.

Gods. I loved him.

I just wish I knew if he loved me back.

**...**

**Gaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh. Such a long freaking chapter...! *flails***


	7. Chapter 6

**You know, I was about to skip this update and wait till next week to update it, considering last chapter was two times as long as normal, but then a moment of clarity shone it's way into my mind: If I had followed through with that plan, I would have had a very annoyed and furious Skippy on my tail Thursday. So, here it is, Skippy. :P I was thinking about you as I typed this one, too. (That sounded sappy... I hope you know what I meant. (Not James thinking. XD(Sorry. Couldn't help it... :P)))**

**Yes. This is ****_the _****chapter, Skipps. Maybe... It might make it too long. :P**

**Anyways! Onto la sotry! (If I can spell while I type it, that is...)**

**...**

I paced restlessly the entire night. The thought of a monster sneaking up on us late into the night had terrified me as Danny slept underneath the stars. I sent nervous glances in his direction from time to time, making he was still there and hadn't rolled off the mountain or something. Gods. If we were in the _sky_ province...

I stopped myself from continuing that thought as something behind me stirred. I wiped around, hand lifting up to my hair, where I kept my magical bobby pin that turned into a dagger. I relaxed when I saw it was only Danny, and removed my hand from my bobby pin. I continued pacing as the half-breed slowly sat up, yawning and stretching. His hair was a bit messed up, and I couldn't help but to think it made him look even cuter than he already was. He looked over at me in confusion with those deep, hypnotic blue eyes of his as he realized that I was pacing back and forth.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Being paranoid." I responded immediately. It was true, I _was_ being paranoid. But as I was being paranoid, I had been thinking about Danny. I couldn't get him out of my head, and it was really bugging me. I mean, yeah, I was falling head over heels for him already, but that didn't mean I had to be thinking about him twenty-four seven. It was frustrating, how much I was thinking about him, really.

"How come?" Danny asked, sitting up and the blanket that was wrapped loosely around him falling off his shoulders.

"I get that way if I stay out overnight." I told him with a wave of my hand, still pacing. "The only time I'm ever really outside is when I'm in the dream world, y'know?"

A frown fell upon Danny's face. "So you didn't sleep?" He asked. I shook my head, and his frown only deepend. "Ty, you need to sleep."

I shook my head again. "No. No, I'm good." I told him. "I just need some... some green tea. Yeah... that always calms me down."

"Then let's get some." Danny decided, standing up.

I nodded. "We really should..." I muttered. I stopped pacing, but as soon as I did, my hands started fidgeting uncontrollably, a sign of my ADHD acting up because of my choice not to sleep.

Okay. Pause here real quick so I can explain something:

All demigods have both ADHD and dyslexia. ADHD is the abbreviation for Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder. The ADHD effects different children of each god or goddess differently. There's the Hephaestus, who's hands fidget because they naturally need to build something at all times, since they are the children of the smith god. There are the Ares, who are always fighting as a natural response to _their _ADHD. And then the Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Kymopoleia, etc. You get the point.

And then there are the _Hypnos_.

We generally aren't affected by our ADHD since we spend most of our time sleeping or trying to get to sleep. The occasional twitch of a muscle every ten hours will satisfy _our_ ADHD. But given that we are rarely awake for more than seven hours, our ADHD backfires on us once we exceed seven hours of being awake. Because of the rarity in this occurrence, we begin to fidget uncontrollably, our ADHD thinking that we are in a life-threatening situation. So it acts up so we can fight better and (hopefully) not die.

Except for when we don't need to fight... We fidget. We move. We can't stop or be stopped until we fall asleep again, which is usually twenty-four hours from when we had last slept. If we do happen to stop moving, our heart rate accelerates to a deadly speed, and we die within an hour unless we start moving again.

Unless we are thinking. For some reason, that is the only acception to use being still when our ADHD is on hyper mode.

Make sense?

Yeah. Doesn't really make sense to me, either. But I live with it and don't question my genetics. The last time I did, my head hurt for a week.

Okay. Resume.

Danny began to fold his blanket as my hands twitched by my side. I watched him as he did, about to tell him that he didn't need to fold the blanket, but left him to it as I tried to concentrate my twitching into a single hand instead of both of my hands.

"Let's go." Danny said when he was finished folding his blanket. He started the treacherous climb down the mountain, folded blanket thrown over his shoulder so he could use both hands. I followed after him sure-footedly, keeping an eye fixed below me to make sure Danny didn't fall.

Not like I could do something about it if he did so happen to fall while I was climbing down _above_ him, but, you know. That thoughtful logic hadn't crossed my mind at the time.

When Danny reached the bottom safely, he turned around and offered me a hand to help me down from the large boulder that I had stopped on. I smiled gratefully at him and accepted his hand before jumping off the boulder.

"You're going to sleep later, yes?" Danny asked me after I had landed safely on the ground.

I shrugged. "Maybe once night falls..." I replied.

Danny sighed. "Okay." He said after awhile. He released my hand, much to my dismay, and began to lead me out of the mountain province of camp.

...

Walking across the frozen flood was a breeze.

For Danny.

I mean, seriously. There I was, slipping and sliding as I tried to keep up him, while he walked sure-footedly, not even slipping once! I tried to copy his movements, seeing if there was anything special about the way he carried himself as he walked across the ice, but I just ended up slipping more.

Danny noticed me struggling to get across the ice, and he offered to help me. I shook my head in response, determined to make it across without help.

"N-no. I got it." I told him before slipping again. I stopped, finding my center of balance, before continuing again, only to fall backwards as my feet suddenly slid out from underneath me. "Curse ice..." I growled as I sat up, gingerly rubbing my back. "I hate it."

Danny stopped and turned around to look at where I sat on the ground. "Do you need my help now?" He asked me, a small smile of amusement dancing on his face.

I smiled sheepishly. "Y-yes. I suppose I do."

Danny held out a hand and helped me up. Once I was standing, he let me hold onto his arm for support. "Thanks."

He patted my hands that were both wrapped around his arm for support. "You're welcome."

"How do you walk so well on this stuff, anyways?" I asked as he began to walk again.

He shrugged in response. "It's only frozen water, and in water, hippocampi are very well coordinated. I suppose it works the same for solid water."

His explanation made sense, so I nodded. "Oh. Yeah. Okay." I said. "I had almost forgotten that you're part..." I tried to find a word for him. "I don't want to say monster, because that's just be rude to you. You aren't anything like a monster. You're the exact opposite of that." My face scrunched up. "Unlike that nasty Cyril guy. Now _he's _a monster and..." I trailed off as I realized I was still talking, and my face heated. "Sorry. I tend to ramble."

Danny chuckled. "You're fine. You can just call me a..." He thought for awhile. "You can call me a half-blood."

"Half-blood?" I repeated before a grin spread across my face. It was a clever use of the word. Half-blood, in all reality, didn't just mean demigods. It could be broadened to cover every half-human thing. "It's true, so I will."

"Or 'Danny' works as well."

"I think I'll stick with that." I told him with a small smile. "I like names more than titles." _And the fact that it totally works with you as well..._

He nodded in agreement. "It's more personal that way."

I nodded and smiled before a thought crossed my mind. "This Cyril guy... how bad is he?"

Danny frowned at my question. "What do you mean?"

"Well, he obviously pushes you down a lot." I said. "I can see it, in your eyes. And I thought 'hey! Maybe, I could try and have a talk with this guy to get him off of Danny's back!' But then I remembered how you said that you're afraid of him yesterday, so I thought I'd ask. To see what I'll be getting myself into, y'know?"

He immediately shook his head. "No. Please don't. I'd get in trouble if you did. And I don't want you hurt because of it."

"He's that bad, huh?"

Danny nodded. "Very. Even the triplets fear him. My father fears him as well; Cyril threatened him so I had to come and help for his 'cause'."

I scowled. "Thats not right. He shouldn't threaten people to get what he wants."

""He shouldn't, but he has."

I sighed. Suddenly, the image of Danny being hurt by the large brute flashed through my mind, and fear flared inside of me, accelerating my heart rate. My grip on his arm tightened as my heart quickened with the unnecessary adrenaline. "Please don't get on his bad side, Danny." I begged him. "I don't want you to get hurt."

He lifted his free hand and scratched the back of his neck. "Believe it or not, I don't intentionally try to get on his bad side. I try to avoid arguing with him."

"I would too, Danny. But my point still stands. I don't want you to get hurt."

Danny smiled and rubbed my hands still clinging to his arm soothing. "I appreciate it, Ty. Thank you."

I smiled at him softly as he did. We made it to the Big House and Danny held the door open for me. "Thanks." I told him as I slipped inside.

"You're welcome." Danny responded, slipping in after me. He followed me to an empty corner, where I sat down. "Would you like me to get you your tea?" Danny asked me, standing above me.

I blinked. "I don't think Zavid has any in here. Being a carnivorous monster and all, he tends to stay away from anything plant based."

Danny shook his head. "No. I meant for on the food court."

"Oh." I blushed slightly. Of course he meant form the food pavilion. Where else would he get it? "Yes please."

He nodded. "What kind is it again?"

"Green tea."

"Okay." Danny said. "I'll be back."

I smiled at him. "Okay. Thank you." He smiled back at me before he left me to my thoughts.

...

**Okay. Crappy chapter, but a chapter nonetheless. It's important to the plot, so I can't just skip it, so... yeah. :P**

**Sorry, Skipps. Looks like next one is THE one. X3**


	8. Chapter 7

It didn't take long after Danny left for somebody else to come up to me. I knew she would. I had felt her gaze on me while Danny had been here, and I knew she wanted to talk to me. But I was too busy thinking to here what she had to say.

"Uh... what?" I asked my half-sister Mia. She rolled her eyes.

"I asked about you and that Danny kid." She said. "You obviously like him."

"Oh..." I felt myself turning a little red. Was it really that obvious that I had fallen head over heels in love with him so quickly? Did he notice? "W-we're just friends. That's all."

"You're fine." Mia said, sitting down next to me. I scoot over till my arm was against the neighboring wall of the one I was sitting against, giving her room to sit on the crowded floor. "I know what its like."

I gave her a small frown. "What whats like?" I asked. I didn't know what she was talking about when she had said she knows "what its like". Mia had just arrived not long before the flood hit us, giving her barely enough time to fall in love. But heck. Who am I to judge? I've already fallen in love with Danny in less than twenty four hours. Mia has been here for twice that time. She might have already fallen in love and confessed, for all I knew.

"What liking someone is like." My half-sister clarified. She was putting force into her voice, and my ears picked up on the hypnotizing frequency she was trying to use against me, and I scowled as she tried to hypnotize me into telling her what she wanted to know.

"You aren't going to get anything out of me with my own trick, Mia." I told her. "But, while we're on the subject, who do you like?"

"Cy-" Mia cut herself off before she finished the name, but I already heard all I needed to hear to know who she was talking about.

A frown replaced my scowl at the name. Cyril. The brute who threatened people to get what he wanted. The beast who killed those who didn't follow him. The guy who had probably hurt the man I love for being kind and caring, the complete odious opposite of the boulder, from what Danny had told me. And I know I was probably supposed to be supporting of my sister and tell her to go and pursue happiness, but I couldn't bring myself to do that. I wasn't about to tell her to be happy with a killer. I just couldn't!

"Mia," I said her name slowly as I tried to figure out what to tell her about Cyril. I couldn't tell her what Danny had told me. I had promised not to tell anybody what he had said. So I stuck with the common "That guy is bad news."

"Why?" Mia asked.

I shook my head, unable to explain without giving away what Danny had told me. "He just is, Mia. Stay away from him."

"How. Can. You. Tell?"

"Mia. I just know. You need to stay away from Cyril, no ma-" I stopped as the door opened. Hoping it was Danny, I looked up. To my dismay, it was the devil himself. Quickly, I shut my mouth and said no more about him.

Mia nodded and got up. As if to spit me, she headed towards Cyril. She grazed het hand against his, and I saw the brute's fingers twitch at the touch. I saw him scowl and open his mouth to say something, but Mia quickly shut him up by grabbing his hand and pulling him back out of the Big House. He could have easily stopped her from doing so, but he didn't, and I felt a strange anger spark in me. He was letting her swoon all over him, even though he clearly had a thing against demigods. I swear, if he laid one, meaty, large paw on her in any act of violence, I'd-

My thoughts stopped as the Big House door opened again. In entered Danny, with a cup in his hand. He looked exhausted, and when he turned his face towards me, the cheek opposite me was smeared with blood, and a wound on his cheek was still slowly oozing out the deep crimson liquid.

My throat constricted at the sight of him, and I immediately stood and rushed over to the half-monster I loved. "What happened to you?"

"Nothing happened." Danny replied, not meeting my eyes as I gingerly cupped his uninjured cheek in my hand as I inspected the deep cut running down the other one. "I got your tea."

I was a little irritated at how he just lied to me outright, but I didn't voice that emotion. "I don't care about the tea right now, Danny." I told him instead. "I care about you. You're my number one concern and priority right now. What happened?"

"Nothing happened." He repeated, still not meeting my worried gaze. He set the cup in his hand down on the table next to us before he finally looked at me. "Nothing happened." He said again, as though repeating it would make me believe him.

I frowned at his refusal to truthfully answer my question. Didn't he trust me? Didn't he realize that I was concerned about him? "I'm not going to take that as a reasonable answer. Something obviously happened." I used my thumb to wipe some blood of this face that was accumulating into droplets at his chin, about to splatter and drip onto the ground. "Come on," I told him, grabbing his hand with my clean hand and gently tugging him towards the back, where the camp director kept his office. "Let's get you cleaned up."

Danny allowed me to lead him to the back. As I guided him, I heard he was having a difficult time breathing. I could tell he was trying to hide it from me, refusing the coughs that wanted to rise up from his throat. I sighed. Why was he trying to hide his obvious pain from me? The way his shoulders slumped forward as though they were tired of supporting themselves was evidence enough that Danny was hurt. Yet he didn't want to tell me how much pain he was in, or what happened to get him this hurt.

Opening the door to Zavids office, I propped it open with the door wedge before I released Danny's hand and made my way to the desk and began to rummage through the drawers for rubbing alcohol and gauze. He trailed in after me and sat down in the desk chair slowly, careful as he lightly held his stomach as if performing as simple a task as sitting hurt him. I found the medical supplies I needed and grabbed them.

I turned around to see Danny rubbing his cheek gingerly, sitting in the chair and looking to be in pain. I felt my heart ache at his pained expression, and I grabbed the tissue off the desk next to me before kneeling down next to him, pushing down the stick underneath the chair to lower his face to being more my height. Dumping some rubbing alcohol onto some of the tissues, I began to clean his wound.

"Right after I told you I didn't want to see you hurt..." I murmured as I cleaned his cheek. He winced under the touch of the rubbing alcohol.

"I didn't mean to..." He mumbled in response.

"Sh... sh... I know you didn't mean to." When I finished wiping the blood away from around his wound, I began to clean the wound itself. Danny's hands clenched, knuckles turning white as I dabbed gently at the wound.

I got rid of the blood slowly seeping out and turned for the box of gauze. Opening it, I pulled one out and began to patch Danny up. "I should have been worried." I said softly as I covered his wound. "It shouldn't have taken you as long as it did."

"I'm fine, Ty," Danny sighed. "Really."

I held up one of the bloody tissues that I had used to clean up his face. "No, Danny. You aren't fine." I dropped the tissue and finished patching up his face. "Are you hurt anywhere else?"

"Not on the outside." He mumbled in response.

I sighed. I gestured to his chest. "Let me feel for any broken bones. I heard you having a difficult time breathing, and I need to make sure that your ribs aren't broken and hurting your lungs."

Danny nodded, and as if my mentioning of his abnormal reminded him of it, he coughed a little as he lifted his arms. I frowned as I began to fill his ribs gently, sad that he was hurt. Once I was done feeling his ribs, I pulled him into a ginger hug, careful not to hurt him more.

"I'm so sorry this happened to you. I should have been there to protect you like I promised." I murmured.

Danny carefully hugged me back. "You didn't need to protect me, Ty. Nothing went wrong."

"Tell that to your bloody face." I countered, pulling out of the hug.

"I just fell. That's all." He murmured.

I shook my head, but said nothing more. If Danny wanted to lie to me, then fine. I didn't care. But I felt my heart sink at the thought, and I felt even more saddened then I was before when I found out that he was hurt. I wanted him to tell me the truth, even if it was just a little tiny bit of the truth. I wanted him to trust me with the truth, and the fact that he didn't… It hurt me deeper then I would have liked it to.

"Could I go and get the tea now?" He asked. "I got it for you."

"Yeah. Sure." I grumbled, sitting back down.

He smiled at me, clearly not able to tell that I was upset with him. "I'll be back in a moment." He told me before slowly getting up. He held his stomach a bit as he did before he walked back out the door and to the main room. I cleaned up the mess I had made to clean up Danny's face while I waited for him to return, putting all the unused supplies back where they belonged and the used ones inside a back before disposing of them in the garbage properly to avoid contamination on other things in there.

"I got your tea." Danny announced as he came back in, cup in his hand. I jumped at the sound of his voice. He smiled softly at me, and I smiled back, holding out a hand for him to put it in. He set it in my hand carefully before sitting back down in the chair. I sipped at my tea as he did, closing my eyes as the delicate flavor I loved washed over my taste buds.

"Thank you, Danny."

He smiled. "You're welcome."

"Are you sure you're okay?"

Danny nodded in response. "Yeah. I'm okay." He reached up a hand to feel his bandages, and winced as obvious pain went through his cheek at the touch. I frowned and stood up, setting my tea on the ground, and used my empty hands to gently pull his hand away from his face.

""I didn't mean be stupid about it and touch it." I scolded him lightly.

"Sorry." He murmured. I smiled gently at the half-monster I loved, and used my thumb to rub some dirt off of his uninjured cheek. "Why do you care about me so much?" He asked me suddenly.

I blinked before a light blush crept up on my cheeks as I tried to find a reasonable answer. I didn't want to tell him that I was falling desperately in love with him. I didn't know how he'd react, or if I'd chicken out and avoid him for the rest of his stay at Camp Phoenix. "I… I… um…" I stuttered, trying to find a good excuse.

"It's just, you seem like you're so intent on helping me for some reason." Danny continued. "It's not bad. It just confuses me."

I didn't think my blush could get any deeper at that point. I knew he was going to notice at some point in time. But it was just too soon. I stuttered a few more syllables before I was able to develop any actual words. "Y-you know how I kept c-calling you handsome a-and adorable last night?"

Danny nodded, looking at me. "Yeah?"

"I know it's crazy, but, Danny," I continued, reaching up to hold my wolf necklace. The animal around my neck tended to calm me down, because it was the last thing my mom had given me before she had drowned. "I think I'm falling for you."

"What do you mean?"

"Danny… I… I think that I might… actually, possibly, be starting to fall in love…" I looked away. "W-with you."

"Love?" Danny repeated. "You… love _me_?" I nodded my head, biting my lower lip. "But why would you love _me_? Nobody loves me but my father. But that's family love. Is it friend love?"

I shook my head before I released my hold on my necklace. "Never mind." I said quietly, deflating inside. He didn't understand how much he meant to me, even after the short amount of time I've known him. "I shouldn't have said anything."

"No, Ty. You can tell me." He told me softly. "I want to know."

I looked up at Danny, locking my gaze onto his deep blue eyes. But when he locked his onto my eyes, I looked away, feeling insecure about my feelings towards him. But he wanted to know, and I was a horrible liar, so I had to tell him. "I love you, Danny." I said hesitantly. "Like… more than a friend."

"Like, _love_ love?" He asked.

I nodded and wiped at my eyes, checking to make sure there were no tears. "I know it's stupid. I just met you. But I can't help it. You're just so sweet and kind and caring and handsome and funny and there isn't any other guy like you, and I just…"

I trailed off when I saw Danny smiling softly at me. "It's okay, Ty." He told me. "I like you, too."

**…**

**Skadoosh! End of chapter! :D**


	9. Chapter 8

**Skadoosh! :D**

**I'd just like to reestablish something real quick:**

**Danny is _not _mine. He is ScipioPB's. Not mine. I could never RP somebody as adorable as him. :3 She does it perfectly. I can't pull off her skills in RPing Danny. Praise to you, Skippy! You're doing an excellent job with Danny. And I'm so so so so so so so so so terribly sorry if I get off track after the weird \/-\/-\/ line breaker...I don't know how to use him! T-T**

**Ty is mine, though. Not hers. She's muah, straight down to the bone.**

**We RP them in the forum Camp Phoenix, run by me as the lovely admin, and Skippy as a lovely and trusted moderator of the forum. You should really join *nod nod***

**Anyways! Onto the story! **

...

He didn't say it back. _I like you, too._ He _couldn't_ say it back. I don't know why I was expecting so much out of him. He just met me yesterday. Hell! _I_ just met _him _yesterday! I shouldn't be this deeply in love with him. But I was. I don't know why, but I was so desperately in love with Daniel Rivera that I wanted him to say that he loved me back. It was a childish want, like I expected him to have fallen in deeply in love with me as I had with him.

Danny's smile faltered, and he looked doubtful at my lack of speaking. "Did I say the wrong thing?" He asked.

I looked back into his deep blue eyes, and I saw that he didn't understand just how much the word _love_ meant to me. He didn't realize that my entire heart spilled and brain went dead every time he spoke to me. He didn't understand. He wanted to understand, but he just…

He couldn't.

I shook my head. "No. No, it was perfect." I told him. I didn't want to hurt his feelings by telling him yes, he had said something wrong. But in all reality, it was _me _who had said something wrong. I shouldn't have told him that I was falling in love with him so early. I should have waited, told him that it wasn't important why I cared so much about him before I had spilled out my feelings to him. But it was too late to not have told him. It was out there, and there was no getting my words back. "If I could, I would squeeze you. But I don't want to hurt you."

Danny gave me another one of his heart-stopping smiles. "I wouldn't mind the pain."

I thought for a while before I spoke again. "How about I squeeze you when you can breathe properly again?"

As if my mentioning of his breathing had reminded Danny of his pain, he let out a hoarse cough as he nodded. "Okay."

I frowned at the cough. He sounded terrible, in pain. And it hurt me to see him in pain, probably more than his pain was causing him. "You should get one of Apollo's to look at you." I told him. "I'm not a professional in the field of medicine, so I can only do minimal work like everybody else at camp."

"I think I'm okay." Danny replied hoarsely, getting up out of the chair.

"That's the problem. You _think_ you're okay."

"I look okay, don't I?" He asked as he held out his arms and inspected himself.

I let out a soft sigh of defeat. "Whatever. Don't see them." I grumbled before a thought crossed my mind. "Actually, don't. Now that I think about it, they might find out that you're part monster as they inspect you, and I don't know if everybody will be as accepting of you as I am."

"That's a good point." Danny said as he smiled at me. "Thank you for helping me."

I smiled back at him. "It's what I'm here for." I responded.

"And I appreciate that." Danny looked down at his feet. He looked like he was trying to keep something in, but at the same time, he looked like he wanted to say to whatever he was trying to keep in.

"Danny… What's wrong?" I asked him. He shuffled his feet.

"I…. I wasn't quite honest with you when I said how I was hurt." He told me. "Did… did you want to… Did you want me to tell you the real reason?"

I immediately nodded. "That's what I've been trying to pry out of you for the past hour."

Danny looked hesitant before he sighed in defeat. "I didn't fall, Ty." He said, and I couldn't help but to scoff at that obvious truth.

"Of course you didn't, Danny. Unless you were holding a knife when you fell, falling does _not_ cause a wound like _that_."

He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, ignoring my interruption. "It was Cyril who hurt me. He wanted information that I didn't have."

I felt my fists clench as soon as he had said Cyril's name. I had my sneaking suspicions, but I had wanted them to be confirmed before I jumped forward and did anything. And now that my suspicions have been confirmed… I felt myself grow furious. "He did this to you?" I asked with a low growl.

Danny nodded in response. "Yes. He did."

\/-\/-\/-\/-\/-\/-\/-\/-\/

"Ty!" Danny called after me. "Wait!"

I didn't slow. I was furious. Nobody hurts the people I love and get away with it. Not even if they were a nine foot tall, thick as a tree trunk, violent, and possibly murderous half human, half some random monster who instilled fear into everybody they met. There were no exceptions when it came to my fury. I'd destroy the world if I had to if it meant ensuring the safety of the people I loved. Or, I'd at least _try_.

I practically kicked down the door to the Big House in my fury. Danny chased after me, still calling my name. But I wouldn't listen. Grabbing my clenched fists, he pulled me to a stop. I tried to get him to let go, thrashing and struggling against him as he held my hands in his, but his grip remained like that of a vipers.

"Ty," he said softly. "You can't do this. You can't go up and confront him. I know that's what you're going to do. But you can't. I won't let you. He'll kill you if you do."

"He needs to pay!" I shouted back, still struggling against him. "He can't get away with hurting you!"

Danny hummed softly as he pulled me into a hug. I couldn't help it as I began to cry as he wrapped his arms around me in a hug. Danny was hurt. And I couldn't do anything about it. He wouldn't _let_ me do anything about it. Because he wanted to keep me safe.

"Sh… sh…" Danny hummed soothingly as he hugged me. I stopped struggling against him and just cried into his shirt, feeling useless inside as he rubbed my back to try and get me to calm down. "It's okay." He said softly as he held me in his arms. "It's okay."

"It's _not_ okay." I cried. "You're hurt, Danny. You're in pain."

"I'm fine, Ty." He told me softly. I shook my head, about to tell him he wasn't, because he had to life in fear of somebody twenty four seven, but he continued before I could argue against his words. "As long as you're safe, I'll be okay."

His words only brought more tears to my eyes. That was exactly how I felt. But I wasn't fine at the moment. I wasn't okay. Danny was hurt. He wasn't safe. Cyril was still free without punishment, left to threaten and hurt the half-monster that I loved as much as he wanted to. And I couldn't do anything about it, because Danny wouldn't let me, and it just hurt me more. I felt useless, like I couldn't do anything to help him. I wanted to help him, but he wouldn't let me. And it hurt way more than I could express.

But still I nodded. Danny smiled softly and rubbed my back more as I continued to cry my inner heart ache away. He rested his head on top of mine as he held me. He allowed me to cry the rest of my tears away, waiting until my sobs had reduced to pitiful sniffling before he diverted his attention away from me.

I felt him look up and above my head to something behind me. I heard his breath catch in his throat, and his heart rate accelerate to match his contained excitement that I heard when he spoke. "Ty..." He breathed in shock. Joy. Amazement. Marvel. _Excitement._ "Look."

I wiped away whatever tears Danny's shirt hadn't caught before turning my head to glimpse what he was so excited about. And as soon as I did, my earlier solemnness vanished as shock replaced all feeling in me, vanquishing my tears.

**...**

**Skadoosh. What do you think it is? :D**


	10. Chapter 9

**Skadoosh! I have nothing to say today. ****... ****I think. :P XD**

**WAIT. I DO have something to say!**

**STOP RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE AND DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER. I have uploaded three chapters in one day! This means, if you have just clicked the last chapter on the story, GO BACK TWO MORE TO CHAPTER... um... TO CHAPTER SEVEN. **

**And if you are aware that I did this, then... PROCEED! :D**

**...**

Water lapped silently at where it rested several yards from the porch of the Big House. Fish darted underneath the surface, gathering algae that had grown between the blades of yellowing grass. The sun reflected off of the water, blinding me a little, but I couldn't look away I was so shocked. When had it melted? It had to be after Danny had come back to the Big House, tea in hand and face smeared in blood.

I was startled out of my thoughts as Danny released his hold on me. I watched as the half-breed I had grown to love over the short twenty four hours I'd known him rushed forth to the front of the water, stopping at the edge, excitement in his gaze as he stared down at it. He kicked off his shoes and socks before sending a silly grin in my direction and walked in. When he was up to his thighs, he put his hands together and dove in, leaving me to stand alone on the dry land he had just escaped.

I watched as he swam further from the hill I stood on, just below the surface of the water that had just been frozen solid not too long ago. I smiled at the happy expression I glimpsed him wearing when he turned his head towards me to look around under the water. A few large fish swam around him, greeting the half-hippocampus with eager shown clearly on their expressions, which was a little weird, since I don't think I had ever seen a fish look eager before that day. They always looked down or monotone, no matter what you did.

After a few minutes, Danny surfaced to take a breath of air, treading water skillfully. He was perfectly dry, save for his hair, which still stood up in spikes up front, droplets of water running down from it and off his dry skin. He searched the shore for me, and when he found at me, he grinned. I couldn't help but to laugh at his expression and changed features. He was ridiculously _adorable,_ with his horse ears that were sticking up on his head in place of his human ones, flicking away the water that ran down from his hair and onto them. His feet and arms had turned into the rippling fins that hippocampus had to help them propel through the water, supporting him and allowing him to tread with what appeared to be effortless ease.

Danny's grin widened at my laugh. He dove back into the water and swam closer to the bank, swimmingly smoothly towards me. When the ground began to slope up underneath him, he followed it, chest skimming the blades of grass. The small fish parted away from him as he swam along the slope, fleeing the half-hippocampus. When he could stand, his limbs turned back into the normal human ones he wore all the time, and he stood. His ears still flicked water aside as he did.

"Come in!" Danny exclaimed wit the happiness he always seemed to have, water lapping gently at his stomach. I shook my head.

"Nu uh." I responded immediately, still shaking my head. "It looks cold."

He rolled his deep blue eyes playfully. "Yeah. And the naiads looked nice."

"Looks can be deceiving." I told him.

"_Exactly_."

I scowled at him. How dare he use my own words against me! If I had known he was going to be witty about it, I wouldn't have said anything. But I couldn't help but to fall just a tad bit more in love with him, if that was even possible at that point in time. I think I loved him as much as a person could ever possibly love somebody. I loved him more than I loved _myself_, and that was saying something.

Crossing my arms, I mulled over my options. Danny had snared me into a tough situation. It was either go against my words he had so cleverly turned on me and not swim, or give in to his wants and witty tongue and swim with him.

Letting out a sigh, I nodded. "Fine." I said before walking up to the edge of the water and slipping off a sandal. I dipped my foot into the slow moving waves and was shocked to find that it was, in fact, warm. Kicking off my other sandal, I began to wade in till I was up to my knees.

"See?" Danny asked cheekily, a grin spreading across his face. "It's not cold."

I scowled again and splashed him. "Shut up."

He chuckled and splashed me back. I tried to avoid the drops of water flying through the air in a high arc towards me, but ended up falling over into the shallow water I was standing in with a small _splash! _and a small yelp. I sat up in the warm waters, spitting out the bit of liquid that had gotten into my mouth. I reached up with my hands and wiped away the water from my eyes till it stopped streaming into them. Once all the water was out of my eyes, I tried to locate Danny again so I could send him my best spiteful scowl, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"Danny?" I asked, standing up. I walked further into the water till it reached just below my rib cage. "Danny!"

I was suddenly showered by water from behind, and I wiped around to see Danny standing behind me, grinning. I scowled at his grin. "Not cool." I said. "Not cool one bit."

His grin fell into a small, confused frown. "Did I do something wrong?" He asked me hesitantly.

I considered telling him yes, that he had scared me and that I had thought that he had drowned or something, or one of those big fish that had been swimming around him eagerly earlier had managed to drag him down and decide to be unfriendly. But I reconsidered that. "You made me get wet." I grumbled instead.

That made his grin return. "Well, now that you are, you might as well swim now, right?"

I hesitated and looked at him. His skin was still perfectly dry, while water clung to mine from my quick fall. Nodding, I said "But not unless you turn off that 'stay dry' switch of yours and get wet, too."

"I can't." Danny told me. "It's part of who I am. It's like me telling you to stop being a demigod. I can't just get wet when I want to, just like you can't decide to be a demigod when you want to."

I frowned. That wasn't fair. So I had to get wet, while the water just slid right off of him? Not fair one bit. "Then I'm not swimming."

Danny looked hurt by that. He looked like he was about to say something, but he shook whatever words were developing on his tongue away with a shake of his head. "Okay." He said softly instead. "I understand." He walked past me silently through the water, barely parting it as though he was just a simple gentle breeze bouncing off of the waters, disturbing the surface only a little.

I hesitated for a few moments, trying to decide what to do. I hadn't meant to make Danny sad. I didn't like seeing him sad. It made me sad, too.

"Danny… wait." Danny stopped and turned around to look at me, a questioning look on his face. I smiled softly at him. "I'll swim with you."

A grin slowly spread its way across Danny's face, breaking through the sad looked that had tried to take refugee on his breath-taking features. He came back over to me and grabbed my hands excitedly. "Come on!" He exclaimed. "You can tell me more about the cabins as we swim!"

**...**

**Gah. They're getting shorter and shorter as I get further and further away from the RP... Crap. Needa work on that. XD**


	11. Chapter 10

**Skadoosh! On'y one more chapter after this one! :D**

**...**

For several days I watched Danny swim joyously in the water, and for several days the water slowly receded. Cyril remained at the food pavilion the entire time. Danny said it was because he was afraid of water, for the other half-monster didn't know how to swim because he thought he was too heavy to stay afloat. I was okay with it, of course, because it meant he wouldn't be able to hurt Danny. Danny didn't know I was worrying about him so much, and I didn't want to tell him I was worrying about him because he would tell me to stop.

"What's the story of that one?" Danny asked, pointing to the star chart that I had found inside the Big House. He was taking a break from swimming to talk and spend time with me, and though I didn't want him to stop having fun in order to keep me company, I wasn't about to protest. I mean, he had thought of me. Why would I protest against that?

I looked over to the chart to see which one he was pointing at. I blinked. "I don't think that Virgo even _has _a story."

The half-hippocampus looked confused. "But you told me that everything has a story."

I chuckled. "That's not what I meant." I said, succeeding in making him even more confused. "What I meant was that I don't think that Virgo is anything special except for being the first woman to successfully resist Zeus' charms and being a zodiac."

"What's a _Zodiac_?"

I gave him a weird look, about to ask him how he didn't know what the Zodiacs were, until I remembered that he had been traveling with the other half-monsters for most of his life. He probably hadn't been able to find the time to pick up a book and read about this stuff. It also explained why he was so eager to listen to the stories I told him, why he always asked for one every day before he fell asleep.

I sat there in thought, trying to figure out how to explain the Zodiacs to Danny. But he took my silent mulling as me not willing to tell him about them, and he looked hesitant.

"…Ty?"

"…The Zodiacs… Um… How to explain, how to explain…" I said quietly in thought. Danny chuckled and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. The gesture distracted me from my thoughts, and he distracted me more when he smiled.

"Take all the time you need." He told me. He went back to looking at the star chart, keeping his arm draped across my shoulders. The way his deep blue eyes flitted around, trying to memorize the positions, names, and shapes of each constellation was distracting.

"Have you figured out how to explain it to me yet?"

I jumped when he spoke, and quickly averted my gaze from his hypnotizing eyes, cheeks heating up. Danny glanced up from the star chart and looked at me with those deep blue eyes that I had been staring at just a few seconds ago.

"Everything okay?" He asked.

"Y-yeah." I stuttered, hiding my reddening cheeks being my curly black hair. I had been wearing it down more recently instead of pulled back in its usual pony tail because Danny had once told me he liked it more when it was down. At that point, I was glad I was so eager to please him, because then, at that moment, it gave me a way to hide my embarrassed face. "Y-you just startled me, th-that's all."

Danny chuckled. "That deep in thought, huh?"

I peered at him through my hair, though I still hid my red cheeks. "Y-yeah. S-something to that effect."

"Hey…" Danny said softly. He reached up with the hand that wasn't around my shoulders and cupped the side of my face. I went rigid at the touch, heart pounding dangerously in my chest. How could he not hear my heart race at his simple touch, hear the words that I've been so restlessly thinking since that very first day I met him? "I didn't mean to startle you, okay?"

I turned my head and looked at him. That innocent look on his face, like he couldn't feel my pulse quicken beneath his gentle touch. The smile he wore so loosely, stopping every breath I took short before they could fill my lungs. The way his brown hair spiked up front, adding a pleasant compliment to his chin stubble and warm personality. I loved everything about him, and he didn't know. And if he did, then he didn't care, or he acted like he didn't care.

I swallowed nervously and nodded hesitantly. The small smile that was already on his face broadened itself into a small grin. He moved the hand that was on my cheek and began to brush the hair out of my face with gentle care.

"There," he said once all of the hair was out of my face, a small smile on his own. "Beautiful."

My face grew terribly warm at the word. Beautiful? "Y-you think I'm beautiful?"

"Not think, Ty," Danny corrected. "I _know_."

I went silent for a few moments, thinking of what to say or do in response to that. Was there anything to say in response? Was I supposed to say something in response to that? I didn't know. I didn't know what to say or do, and it was bugging me.

"Ty?" Danny asked, breaking me from my thoughts again. "Did I say something wrong?"

I shook my head vigorously. "No. No, it was… I don't know what to call it. I just loved it."

The smile that had fallen from his face returned. "So are you going to tell me about those Zodiacs?" Danny asked, changing the subject.

But I didn't hear him. I was too busy thinking. _Should I…?_ I thought silently. I looked into his eyes, and I decided to stop thinking and just do, even if it meant heart break.

"Danny?"

"Yes, Ty?"

At my name, all thoughts were pushed aside and out of my mind.

Danny was different than the other guys at camp, and I loved him for that. He was perfect, and I was desperately in love with his perfectness. I didn't care if he loved me back or not. I loved him, and that fact would never change, no matter what happened.

Closing the distance between us, I gently placed my parted lips on his heart-stopping, breath-taking smile.


	12. Chapter 11

**Skadoosh! This chapter is really short... Like, seriously short... Only 534 words, compared to the one-thousand to two-thousand word chapters before it...**

**...**

Six days.

That's how long it took me to kiss him.

Six days, twenty-one hours, and seventeen minutes.

And as soon as I did, my anxieties returned.

Quickly pulling away, my hands flew up to hide my face quickly reddening face. "Danny! Oh my gods, I'm so sorry! I don't know what came over me! I didn't mean to! I swear I didn't!I was just thinking about how-"

I stopped when I heard the half-hippocampus chuckling softly. I parted my fingers and looked at him through a single eye. "W-why are you laughing?" Gods. Did I make _that_ big of a fool of myself that even _Danny _would laugh at me? I couldn't have possibly done that! Danny's never laughed at me like this before!

"Oh, I don't know…" He chuckled, brushing the hair that was covering my hands, which were still covering my face, out of the way so he could see the eye that I was looking at him with. "Maybe because you're so concerned about how I'd react to you kissing me, that you never gave me the chance to decide whether or not to kiss you back."

He had a mischievous glint in his deep blue eyes, and I couldn't tell if he was messing with me or not. It didn't seem like a very Danny thing for him to do, but at that point, I wasn't even sure if I knew who he was, let alone who _I _was. Not after I just spontaneously kissed him. "W-would you have?"

He shrugged carelessly. "Why don't you move your hands away from your face so we can see?"

I didn't want to do that. It sounded like the worst plan in the world. I didn't know what Danny was going to do if I moved my hands away. Would he kiss me? Ignore me? Reject me? Make sure I was watching as he got up and left me? But all those questions and that not-knowing sparked curiosity in me, and I could never ignore the temptations of my curiosity, even if it was a life-or-death type of situation.

Slowly, I lowered my hands. Folding them in my lap, I waited for Danny to make his move, heart pounding as I did.

When I was about to take shelter in my hands and hide my humiliation behind my fingers once more, a pair of soft, warm lips were pressed onto mine. I was too shocked at first to register who it was, too shocked to respond to it. It took me awhile to realize it was Danny who was pressing his lips onto mine. My heart melted inside my chest, eyes fluttering shut as I tried to wrap my mind around what was going on. But my mind couldn't think straight, and I found myself beginning to kiss him back.

After a few moments, Danny finally pulled away. He rested his forehead on mine, a small smile on his face. "I think the answer to your question," He murmured, giving my nose a gentle kiss. "Was _yes._"

**...**

**Skadoosh! :D Fluffy moments! :D And the end of book one! :D I'm contemplating adding another chapter, but… I think this is the best ending for the story. Don't you think?**

**Look! This is the first time I've actually ever completed a story that I've worked on! :D I'm so happy!**


	13. Tailpiece

**Encore! Skippy had pleaded. Encore! Welp. Here's your encore, Skipps. Just for you, hon. :D**

That night we laid beneath the stars, talking happily with each other.

"Next year," I said to Danny. "I'm going to be helping Zavid run the camp. I don't want to move to the city just outside the camp borders, because it seems pretty boring there, with all those older people mulling about."

Danny chuckled at the face I had made to go along with my words. "You seem excited to help him next year." He commented.

"Of course! I _love_ kids, and I _love_ to help people, too." A sudden thought crossed my mind, and my excitement only grew. "You should help us next year, too!"

Danny went silent for a few moments after that. When he spoke, his voice was strained. "Ty… I don't know if I can do that." He said sadly.

I looked away from the stars and towards Danny. "Why not?" I asked, my earlier excitement quickly dissipating. "Don't you like it here?"

"I love it here," Danny quickly told me. "And I love _you_. I just don't know if Cyril will let us stay."

His first words should have made me happy, since Danny had out right said that he loved me. But they didn't. They made my heart sink further into my chest. "You can't leave me, Danny." I managed to choke out.

The half-hippocampus wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me close to his warm body, rubbing my back soothingly. "I know Ty." He murmured softly as I began to cry. "I should have told you this before. But I didn't. I'm sorry."

"Why won't he let you stay?" I asked. "He can't decide what you do, Danny."

"Ty… Cyril will kill me if I don't listen to him." He said softly. "I've seen him do it before. He isn't afraid to kill to get what he wants. And if he ever found out about us-" Dannys voice cracked a little as pain entered it. He cleared his throat before he tried to say the sentence again. "If he ever found out about us, he'd kill you, too."

"I'd rather die with you then live the rest of my life alone."

"Don't say that, Ty." Danny chastised gently. "There are plenty of other guys out there to notice a strong, caring, beautiful woman like you."

I shook my head vigorously. "I don't want them. They aren't you." I managed to choke out from my tears. "I want _you_."

Danny pulled me even closer till my head was resting on his chest. "Ty…" He said my name quietly, voice fond and full of love yet pained and tortured. But whatever he was going to say after my name, he didn't. Letting out a gentle sigh, he sat up, still holding me and making me sit up as well. He pulled me into his lap, where I instinctively curled up, leaning into him as I continued to cry my pained tears away.

"Love… Please stop crying." Danny asked me softly after a few minutes.

"I'm trying." I told him. "I just can't bear the thought of losing you."

The half-hippocampus that I loved with all my heart sighed softly. "I know, love…" He murmured. He gave my forehead a gentle kiss before resting his cheek upon it. "I know."

He held me in his arms for the rest of the night, close to his body so I could feel his warmth and he assured that he was still there with me and not an allusion of my heart-broken mind. He held my close as I cried away my tears, humming softly as he rocked side-to-side gently and soothingly rubbed my back. For the entire night he held me, comforting me as he told me how much he loved me. And even when I had fallen asleep in his caressing arms, Danny still held me close to his gentle beating heart.

**…**

**How's that for an encore? :D**

**Okay. I'm sure all of you have noticed the fact that this title says _Book 1_. Yes. It was intentional. I _am_ in fact writing a series of this. I'm going to publish the first chapter of the second book sometime within the next two weeks, hopefully. Update times will be the same as this one, which was every Wednesday at around 2 pm. Sound good?**


	14. ANNOUNCMENT

**ATTENTION**

**I'm currently working on revamping this story! Meaning that by or during the month of the start of the year 2017, this story will be up as a emnew/em story that will be longer, more descriptive, and overall better than the original. Taking a break from uploading EVERYTHING until then (some challenges and one shots will still be put up, though). Things to look forward to in the new versions of this story are:**

**Fixes in grammatical errors**

**Fixed typos**

**Longer sentences**

**Better sentence structures**

**More words**

**Less awkward endings**

**More descriptive sentences**

**More chapters**

**More time and effort put into my work**

**Yes, these changes will mean far fewer updates on everything, but only until I get into the groove of things. I won't be deleting any stories, just making the newer, fresher, cleaner versions of them into NEW stories, essentially permanently doubling my story count. The reason as to why I am doing this is because I feel my stories are not satisfactory length, and they lack depressingly in terms of vivid details and imagery. I'm hoping any of you guys who are still following this story will get the alert and be on the look out for its newer, better version on my profile.**

**Thank you, and adieu.**

**Ty**

**P.S. NEVER USE SHIFTenter IN FFN DOCS. IT RUINS THE WHOLE THING**


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